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Center for Accelerated Language Acquisition (CALA) | Middle Tennessee State University

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Center for Accelerated Language Acquisition (CALA) | Middle Tennessee State University

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Center for Accelerated Language Acquisition (CALA) | Middle Tennessee State University

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Welcome to CALA: The Center for Accelerated Language Acquisition! We are the official language training center of the University Honors Collegeat Middle Tennessee State University.

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What I learned from my mock OPI - The Comprehensible Classroom

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What I learned from my mock OPI - The Comprehensible Classroom

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Last week, I posted that one of my #MyFives goals for 2019 was to improve my Spanish proficiency.

While I had never taken an OPI (Oral Proficiency Interview), I can tell based on my confidence and fluidness in speaking with native speakers that my oral proficiency has declined in the last 10 years. As someone who develops materials for Spanish learners, I believe that it is my professional obligation to maintain an extremely high level of proficiency. ¡Manos a la obra!

What is an OPI?

The OPI is ACTFL's flagship assessment. It is administered through Language Testing International by ACTFL Certified Testers.

The Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) measures your ability to speak in a particular language. It is an unscripted, approximately, 30 minute conversation on the phone with a Certified ACTFL Tester.

Oral Proficiency Interview - Language Testing International

An official, or "certified" OPI is rated by two certified testers, and the highest possible rating on an ACTFL OPI is Superior.
Note: An OPI can also be requested on the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) scale or the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) instead of the ACTFL scale.
Setting my goal for the OPI

I read through the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines and initially guessed that I am currently at Advanced High. My initial goal was to schedule an OPI for December of 2019 and to be scored at Superior. After talking to some friends and considering the structure of the interview, I adjusted my goal down one level: guessing that I am probably at Advanced Mid, I published my official goal as Advanced High by December of 2019.

It's not easy to post uncomfortable goals for the world to see; no more so than it is easy to post any idea on a blog for unseen critics to review. But you know what? It is worth it, and sharing this goal reminded me of that!

OPI, Take 1

You might be familiar with Florencia Henshaw from Episode 57 of We Teach Languages. Florencia is the Director of the Center for Language Instruction and Coordination (CLIC) at the University of Illinois.

Perhaps you-like me-have recently seen CLIC advertising their Spring lineup of FREE WEBINARS on your favorite social media platform. CLIC is the hub for language teaching and learning at the University of Illinois, and Director Florencia is committed to providing ever better access to professional development for language teachers and learners. See the bottom of the post for more information about CLIC.

It also happens that Florencia is a Certified OPI Tester.

...and it also happens that Florencia reads my blog!

When she saw my goal to take the OPI at the end of 2019, she reached out to me and offered to do an unofficial, trial run OPI with me so that I could get a feel for the interview and find out if my goal was attainable!

As terrified as I was to take an OPI-albeit unoffical-ELEVEN MONTHS before I had planned, I had to take her up on the offer. And so...I did!

What happened during my mock OPI

Florencia and I scheduled a call over an online video platform. We were able to see and hear each other throughout the entire interview.

My tester (Florencia) began by reiterating that this was not an official interview and that the results would therefore be neither official nor endorsed by ACTFL or Language Testing International. Then, she explained to me that she might ask me questions about controversial subjects. She affirmed that she was evaluating only the language that I used and that she would listen without judgement to any opinion or idea that I shared. Florencia also told me that if she asked any questions that I was not at liberty to answer, I could tell her that and she would ask a new question. (Phew! I didn't have to compromise my Top Secret security clearance ;-)).

The interview began with a few basic questions about myself and my life. We talked about who I am, what I do, where I live, where I lived in the past, and what my community is like here. Based on what I shared, Florencia asked related questions that slowly became more and more abstract in nature. We talked about what the people in my community value and what issues matter to them. We talked about language learning and what possible solutions there are to the problems that our programs are facing. We even talked about gun control!

I'm not sure how long the actual interview lasted (because we talked a little before and afterward), but I would guess between 25-30 minutes.

What the OPI felt like

I was SO stressed out leading up to the interview. I woke up with a stress headache that didn't dissipate until the interview began. To get myself in Spanish mode, I listened to a Radio Ambulante podcast episode on the way to and from my Spanish lesson. I was hoping that learning about Puerto Rico's honeybees would distract me from the task at hand, but it didn't!

When I finally sat down and connected with Florencia, my fears were instantly put at rest. Her smile and reassured me and put me at ease.

Through the interview, Florencia really didn't say much; she asked me detailed questions but then listened to me talk and elaborate on my responses without interjecting and asking rapid-fire follow up questions. For this reason, I don't think that the format of the interview (phone or computer) would make much of a difference in either user experience or end result.

As Florencia moved from questions about me to questions about ideas and concepts, I could feel the intentionality of her questioning. I knew what she was trying to do. Like a good coach, however, I felt like she was on the sideline of the race that I was running: pushing for me out of my comfort zone, but from a place of advocacy. She was on my side, and she wanted me to do my best. I was able to reach the ceiling of my proficiency without feeling like I was failing. And then, poof! Florencia had what she needed, and the interview was over!

In retrospect, transitions between the four official phases of the interview (Warm-up, Level checks, Probes, and Wind-down) were seamless, and I felt like we were just having a conversation, albeit somewhat one sided.

What I learned from my mock OPI

Based on my performance, Florencia said that she would have scored me Advanced High, had this been an official interview (which it wasn't).

I was surprised when Florencia said that-had I responded differently to some of her questions-she might have been inclined to rate me at Superior.

What does it take to hit Superior on an OPI?

Achieving a Superior rating takes two things: ability and strategy.

Ability

To hit Superior, it is necessary to be able to sustain communication at the Superior level of proficiency. See ACTFL's Proficiency Guidelines for a description of the Superior Proficiency Level.

Strategy

To hit Superior, it is also necessary to be strategic about how you respond to the Tester's questions. While I think that my ability is not yet solidly Superior, I think that the Strategy piece is really what limited my score at Advanced High.

When Florencia asked me more abstract questions, I stated my opinion and then supported it with largely anecdotal reasons. For example, when she asked about gun control, I talked about how my experience having a child in school and living in Alaska and not being confident in my own gun shooting abilities informed that opinion. To hit Superior, I need to be able to present and evaluate diverse opinions. A better response would have been to say that "some people say this" and "some people say that", and offering my opinion on each of those arguments.

Another strategic failure on my part was saying "I'm not sure" when I didn't have a solid opinion. I wasn't able to elaborate on my answers and give detailed support for my assertions, and so I just kind of trailed off on some of the questions. Florencia was asking questions about topics for which there aren't clear answers. For the purposes of the interview, it mattered less that I presented , honest, clear argument, and more that I demonstrated that I could present a clear, detailedargument. When it comes to the OPI-if I run out of things to say because I don't know WHAT I think about a topic, I know now to make stuff up so that I can keep talking!

Do I agree with my unofficial OPI score?

Based on my experience in the mock OPI and knowing what I know now about strategy, I think that on a good day I might be able to score Superior on the test, even now. I think that I could sustain Superior performance for the duration of an interview, but I don't think that I could sustain Superior performance on many interviews with many different testers.

I feel confident that Advanced High was the correct, unofficial rating on my mock OPI.

How will I score Superior in December?

Originally, my plan to ensure that I scored Advanced High in December 2019 involved

watching TV programs in Spanish

reading books in Spanish

having a weekly Spanish conversation date

Now that I know that I am already at Advanced High and need to push to Superior, I am adjusting my plan. Moving into Superior is not as easy because it takes a special kind of input. All of the things that I was planning to do consist mostly of quotidian language and have very small doses of the more abstract, academic conversations that I need to immerse myself in in order to prepare well for my December OPI.

In order to move from Advanced High to Superior, Florencia advised that I look for input sources that discuss social, economic, and global issues at a high level. Because I spend a lot of time each week reading the news and historical commentary as Maris and I prepare the articles for El Mundo en tus manos, I have a good bit of reading input in this area. Now, I need to layer in listening and speaking. Here is what my adjusted steps to achieve my goal looks like:

watching documentaries in Spanish

listening to podcasts in Spanish

having a bi-weekly Spanish conversation date TO DISCUSS A PODCAST OR DOCUMENTARY.

Join my book club!

To that end, if you are a native Speaker of Spanish OR someone else who is pushing for a Superior OPI rating and would like to join a "book club" (where "book" could be a book, podcast, or documentary), please email me at INFO AT COMPREHENSIBLE CLASSROOM DOT COM. I will wait and see how many folks we have interested to make a specific plan, but ideally we would be meeting virtually (in a video call) bi weekly to discuss the content.

Where can I learn more about CLIC?

I cannot sufficiently express just how grateful I am to Florencia for sharing her time and expertise with me. I feel so much better equipped to tackle my goal for the year!

If you, like me, have professional goals that you would like to reach this year, please connect with CLIC. Here's how:

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What I learned from my mock OPI - The Comprehensible Classroom

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Last week, I posted that one of my #MyFives goals for 2019 was to improve my Spanish proficiency. While I had never taken an OPI (Oral Proficiency Interview), I can tell based on my confidence and fluidness in speaking with native speakers that my oral proficiency has declined in the last 10 years.

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The road to ‘Superior’, and getting heritage teachers there – The World of Senordineroman

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The road to ‘Superior’, and getting heritage teachers there – The World of Senordineroman

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In my previous post, I insisted that the most awesome thing that an awesome heritage teacher can do is work at speaking awesome Spanish. In ACTFL parlance = Superior. But what is Superior proficiency, and how do you work towards it?

In June 2016, I was a guinea pig for an OPI workshop. I was already interested in pursuing OPI certification by that point, and so I was looking for any way to rub shoulders with folks who were in the process. I wasn't sure if I had Superior level proficiency or not in order to pursue full OPI certification, or if it would be better to do MOPI certification.

An OPI workshop candidate was called up front to do an interview with me. I was facing the candidate, and to my back, the trainer was typing notes and comments on a Word doc that my trainee tester could see. I was easily able to...

talk about what I do for a living (Intermediate)

explain what some of my interests are (Intermediate)

talk about my daily routine and my family (Intermediate)

tell a story from middle school about forgetting lines in a skit in front of the whole school (Advanced)

describe my middle school gym (Advanced)

explain what I like about teaching (Advanced)

narrate how I decided to become a teacher (Advanced)

Then the OPI trainer stopped the trainee who was testing me and said "We clearly have plenty of evidence of ability at the Advanced level. So what do we do now?" And the OPI trainees said "Start with Superior probes".

And that's when I fell flat on my face.

"How do you think that art and music impact society?" (Superior)

"Only about 50% of Americans participate in voting even though we have voting freedom and rights here. Why is that, and how can we increase participation?" (Superior)

Insert a confused-George-Costanza-gif here. I wasn't ready for that level of abstract thinking and that level of discourse. I muttered out a few sentences for each question, and then just kind of fell silent. It was pretty awkward. I didn't even share an anecdote or example to answer these - which is a typical characteristic of an Advanced level speaker trying to perform an Superior level task. For some reason, I felt so intimidated.

Don't I translate for church on Sunday?

Isn't everyone always talking about how great my Spanish is? (side comment - a bit of white privilege, perhaps? How many immigrants get complimented on their English?)

Didn't I do graduate school in Spanish?

I teach in Spanish, and speak it with my kids at home. What's wrong with me?

I've only spent about 5 months of my life abroad in Spanish-speaking contexts. Maybe I haven't lived abroad enough to hit the Superior level.

The fact of the matter is, we spend most of our life at the Intermediate and Advanced level. We ask questions at the store, ask for a stapler, and wake our kids up with Intermediate level language (perhaps some Novice). We tell stories about childhood mischief and call Verizon to report a lost phone with Advanced level language. But Superior level speech is generally used in academic settings, Fox News Sunday, professional job interviews, and White House press briefings if and when Trump is not the one behind the podium.

What I ended up doing was spending a year immersing myself in content at this level. And in July 2017, I scored 'Superior' on an OPIc (computerized version of the OPI - boy is that brutal), and a few months later again in my official OPI.

Here are a few of the main characteristics of Superior level discourse, taken directly from ACTFL's description:

variety of topics in formal and informal settings from both concrete and abstract perspectives

discuss their interests and special fields of competence

explain complex matters in detail

provide lengthy and coherent narrations

present opinions on a number of issues of interest

social and political issues

provide structured arguments to support opinions

construct and develop hypotheses to explore alternative possibilities

use extended discourse without unnaturally lengthy hesitation to make a point, even when engaged in abstract elaborations

separating main ideas from supporting information

Below, I'll share a few examples of things that I did over the course of a year to build up to the Superior level.

...Tiempo de Análisis, a weekly podcast from la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

...interviews with Mario Vargas Llosa

..."entrevista sobre" on YouTube and clicked on results that caught my attention - how social media is affecting the life of Latin American youth, what it's like to be a Muslim in Spain

..."debate sobre" on YouTube and watched debates about capital punishment in Guatemala, educational reform in Mexico, and an address of Pablo Iglesias to the Spanish Parliament

...novels. I developed a love for Mario Vargas Llosa during this time ("Cinco Esquinas" is the most twisted novel I have ever read), and also "La Casa De Los Espíritus" by Isabel Allende.

...news. I found El Pais from Spain to be the news site that offered good coverage on both U.S. issues and international issues that I valued. And the articles seem to all be produced by their journalists, in Spanish - not translations from AP Press or other sources originally in English.

...with a colleague who did many OPI's during her years in the Peace Corps and who knew how to quiz me. She found a list of thought-provoking questions and sat and threw them at me. She would force me to support my opinion. Sometimes she would switch to English when the conversation went above her comfort level. It was hard at first but eventually became easier. We got together about four times.

...with myself using questions I found a list of at http://www.debate.org. I would answer them and answer these questions to myself as I went biking.

I am with you - binge watching Spanish-language shows on Netflix is a form of PD! I loved Las chicas del cable & Gran Hotel. Check on Tiempos de guerra, too - so good!

- Kristine Keefe-Hasan (@kkeefe_hassan) January 27, 2018

I must say that the entire year was a blessing. I don't feel that I only grew linguistically. I ended up interacting with so many different viewpoints on life, society, politics, culture, and history from so many different Spanish-speaking countries.

I felt like the year was a crash course in intellectual growth. Even if I had gotten to my OPI certification process and ended up only scoring Advanced-High, the process still developed me as a Spanish speaker and as a human being.

I see the fruits of it coming out in the ease in which I can conduct discussions with my heritage students. I've still got a long way to go in developing my Spanish. I commonly come across things in life that I don't know how to express. "Charter schools" in Spanish, anyone?

Heritage language teachers are attempting to get his/her students to improve and incorporate academic registers into their language usage. I want to encourage all teachers of heritage students to set an example for your students by doing the same. If input is the motor of linguistic growth, then your heritage students need to experience a high level of Spanish from you - and you can do it if you're already in the Advanced range and decide to push yourself a bit.

Go find an episode of Tiempo de Análisis to listen to tomorrow on your drive to work!

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The road to 'Superior', and getting heritage teachers there

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In my previous post, I insisted that the most awesome thing that an awesome heritage teacher can do is work at speaking awesome Spanish. In ACTFL parlance = Superior. But what is Superior proficiency, and how do you work towards it? https://twitter.com/senordineroman/status/945807774415331328 In June 2016, I was a guinea pig for an OPI workshop.

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What is Proficiency Oriented Language Instruction? – The Comprehensible Classroom

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What is Proficiency Oriented Language Instruction? – The Comprehensible Classroom

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As language teachers, our goal for our students is to be more proficient in the target language when they complete our course than when they began. We probably have other goals for our students (being more kind, more empathetic, more responsible, more culturally aware), but all of these objectives fit into the overarching mission of PROFICIENCY.

But what is proficiency? And how do orient our instruction toward it?

My friends: run to the bathroom, refill your coffee cup, plug in your computer, and settle in for the beginner's guide to Proficiency Oriented Language Instruction.

WHAT IS PROFICIENCY?

According to the Center on Advanced Research for Language Acquisition (CARLA), there are three components to proficiency:

1. CONTENT: the topic(s) of communication

2. FUNCTION: the task to be completed; the purpose for communicating

3. ACCURACY: correctness or appropriateness of the language for the context

In other words (aka the Martina Bex quick definition):

Proficient learners can communicate about something appropriately and accurately for a purpose.

Write this on your doorposts. Bind this to your foreheads. Teach it to your students. Talk about it as you walk down the halls and as you sit at your desk and stand at the door greeting your precious learners. THIS IS THE GOAL!!! This is your vision for your students. What we want for each one of the humans that we get to spend time with in class is for them to be able to communicate about something ever more appropriately, ever more accurately, for a purpose.

...but how do we get there?

WHAT DOES PROFICIENCY ORIENTED LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION LOOK LIKE?

On its website, CARLA describes these characteristics for proficiency-oriented language instruction:

Proficiency-oriented language instruction is a general framework for organizing instruction, curriculum, and assessment, rather than a method or a theory. Within this framework, language learners practice the four modalities (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) in order to communicate meaningfully, effectively, and creatively in their target language for real-life purposes. A proficiency orientation promotes intercultural communication by exploring the mosaic of language and culture, so that students can communicate appropriately and accurately in authentic contexts in the foreign language. Proficiency-based instruction is student-centered and builds upon what students need, already know, and can do, and it respects diverse learning styles, while encouraging the development of a wide range of skills and learning strategies.

Whew! That is a meaty definition. After reading it a few times, here are the four key elements that I extracted:
" Four Modalities " Language and Culture " Real World Preparation " Student Centered
Let's dig in:

FOUR MODALITIES

Proficiency oriented language classes should allow opportunities for students to listen, read, write, and speak (in) the target language. These opportunities should allow students to function at or slightly above their current level of proficiency in each modality. It behooves us to familiarize ourselves with ACTFL's Proficiency Guidelines (or the equivalent from a different professional organization), as well as the Performance Descriptors (which essentially translate the Proficiency Guidelines-which describe performance in the real world-into the classroom setting). Once we know what performance at each sub-level of proficiency looks like, we can adjust expectations for our students' communication accordingly.

Let us not misinterpret the need for all modalities in a proficiency-oriented language instruction as the need for the the equal presence of all modalities. At AFLA 2016, Bill VanPatten said:

"There are two sides to communication - interpretation and expression. A learner's job in the early stages is largely interpretation."

When we understand how language is acquired (by attending to written and spoken messages that we understand (COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT)), we can confidently dedicate the bulk of time spent in class to interpretive activities such as

How might the four modalities manifest themselves in a beginning comprehension based course?

LISTENING: Listening to the teacher tell a story, Listening to questions asked by the teacher, Listening to the teacher describe a film

READING: Choral reading with the class, Reading stories that have been told/asked in class, Embedded reading, Reading storyboards

WRITING: Filling in missing words in CLOZE passages, Free Writes, Completing personalized sentence frames

SPEAKING: Responding to simple questions from the teacher (yes/no, either/or, etc.), Re-telling class stories, Reacting with rejoinders

As students continue in language courses, student output and ability to interpret input will progress along the proficiency scale, becoming ever more advanced. But even as students' expressive proficiency increases, the role of input never diminishes. Input must always play a critical role in the language learner's experience.

What about grammar?

Notice that grammar is not mentioned even once in CARLA's description of the characteristics for Proficiency Oriented Language Instruction-and yet ACCURACY is one of the three components of Proficiency (along with Content and Function).

Our students' productive accuracy increases as their mental representation of language grows and is strengthened. Their mental representation of language-which is how language is stored in our brains-is strengthened and expands through comprehensible input.

As language teachers, we must put IN what we want to come OUT. Because we want our students to be able to communicate about something appropriately and accurately for a purpose, we must communicate with them in class- appropriately and accurately for a purpose.

Proficiency Oriented Language Instruction is not

Please don't misinterpret this as me saying that if you do any of those things, you are not doing right by your students. There are reasons for doing each of those activities-and you, as an intelligent professional, might choose to use those activities in your class. No judgement! We are each responsible for understanding how language is acquired and then making the choices that are best for our unique teaching situation (self, students, school).

LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

In 2014, ACTFL published a Global Competence Position Statement, and it states that "The ability to communicate with respect and cultural understanding in more than one language is an essential element of global competence". Global competence allows learners to communicate successfully with speakers of another language; with humans that have different cultures than the learner's own. As we orient our instruction toward linguistic proficiency, we must also keep cultural proficiency in our sights. And where our students' cultural proficiency falls short, their global competence is the net that will save them from intercultural failure.

When looking to build Global Competence in our students, consider this:

1. We must bring the target culture into our classes.

2. Presenting facts is not enough. As we expose learners to products, practices, and perspectives from other cultures (including those of the target culture(s)), we can use the recommendations taken from ACTFL's Global Competence Position Statement:

" Recognize the multiplicity of factors that influence who people are and how they communicate. Investigate and explain cultural differences as well as similarities, looking beneath the surface of stereotypes. Examine events through the lens of media from different countries and cultures. Collaborate to share ideas, discuss topics of common interest, and solve mutual problems. Reflect on one's personal experiences across cultures to evaluate personal feelings, thoughts, perceptions, and reactions."

Look for opportunities to dialogue with your students about the products, practices, and perspectives that are exposed through the culture that you bring into class.

REAL WORLD PREPARATION

We are not preparing students to speak the target language to other language learners and teachers within the four walls of a classroom. We are preparing students to communicate in the target language in the real world-with real humans.

I strongly believe that this does not mean that our classrooms should be replicas of the real world. I do not believe that it means that we must use exclusively authentic resources. I no longer believe that it means that we must use 100 percent native-like target language and demand the same from our students (although I did believe this when I started teaching!).

To prepare our students to communicate in the real world with real speakers of the target language, we must equip our students with language that will be useful to them in the world outside our classroom walls, and we must structure our classes such that students can actually acquire that useful language.

Ahhh...language acquisition:

We acquire language when we understand messages; when we understand what people tell us and when we understand what we read. -Stephen Krashen

That's it. Our only job is to speak with our students in such a way that they understand us and to provide them with texts to read that they can understand.

As far as useful language goes-well, some teachers might find it helpful to strategically plan exposure to high frequency verbs, such as Terry Waltz's "Super Seven" or Mike Peto's expanded "Sweet Sixteen". But truly, there is no need to intentionally target high frequency verbs. When you are focused on communicating in meaningful ways with your students, you will naturally use those high frequency verbs-the very same ones that will be most useful to your students when it comes time to communicate in the real world.

I also want to note very quickly that I am an advocate for the scaffolded use of authentic resources in language classes. I do not believe that it is the best use of our precious class time to help students practice the skill of interpreting authentic resources. I do agree with the research that demonstrates that authentic resources are valuable for a variety of reasons, and so I look for opportunities to include high-interest #authres in my curriculum that can generate comprehensible input.

My quick guide to Real World Preparation, then, is to communicate meaningfully and naturally in class using language that will be useful in the real world.

STUDENT CENTERED

CARLA describes student-centered instruction as instruction that builds upon "what students need, already know, and can do".

Different than a common (mis)understanding of student centered; CARLA's description does not dictate roles or activities in a lesson. It does not say that students should be the doers and teachers should be the 'guides on the side'. CARLA's definition describes the what of a lesson. The factor that makes a lesson student centered is the CONTENT of the lesson, perhaps even more so than the method of delivery.

In comprehension based courses, this has always been the goal. We may plan out our weeks, our marking periods, our years-but at the center of our plans lie student interest and ability. Whether we are Card Talking, TPRS-ing, PQA-ing, GSSR-ing, or OWI-ing, the students drive the content. We do our utmost to become one with our students' comprehension, employing a myriad of tools to ensure that we are carefully laying bricks on the foundation of their linguistic ability, not skipping layers or leaving holes. We celebrate what they can do, and we gently lead them on into new territory.

Students are the heart of comprehension based teaching, and it is so refreshing to see that CARLA's definition of student-centered supports that!

MANOS A LA OBRA

Let's apply CARLA's characteristics for Proficiency Oriented Language Instruction to a few activities to see how they measure up:

World Cup 2018 Unfair Game (for Level 1)

Teacher prepares 25 questions in the target language about the 2018 World Cup and provides four possible answers, also in the TL. The class is divided into two teams and plays The Unfair Game: students that followed the World Cup respond based on background knowledge, and students that didn't are making their best guess.
Four Modalities

Listening: students listen to the teacher read the questions and answers, clarify meaning, personalize

Reading: students read the questions and answers

Speaking: students respond with single word answers to the teacher's questions

Language and Culture
How to say country names in the TL, soccer teams from the TL
Real World Preparation
Describing nationality, interpreting and expressing numbers, communicating about sports (team, wins, loses, scores, game, goal, etc.)
Student Centered
No prior knowledge of soccer or The World Cup is required; Language is simple and repetitive across questions; students can participate actively with one word responses
Possible extensions:

Read about the rules of soccer, soccer fandom, soccer teams, soccer players in the target language.

Interpret infographs in the target language about the World Cup

Watch highlights with narration (à la MovieTalk) from the World Cup

Listen to/interpret World Cup theme songs from 2018 or past years

Write a summary of the 2018 World Cup

La chanson du caca/Motocrotte (for French Level 1)

Students sing La chanson du caca and then learn about Motocrotte.
Four Modalities

Listening: Students listen to the song & listen to teacher questions
Language and Culture
Learning about Motocrotte, a past solution for the dog poop problem on the streets of France
Real World Preparation
Saying whether something is normal or gross, using the verb 'faire' (to do/make)
Student Centered
Everyone poops! (on fait caca !), simple, repetitive lyrics, students can express opinions using sentence skeletons
Possible extensions:

Compare regulations in France regarding dog poop clean up to regulations in our community

Discuss problems in our community and possible solutions

Explore ways that other communities and countries have tackled the same problem

Consider how France is handling the problem now (did Motocrotte work or not?)

Learn about Madame Courtcaca (or La Correcaca)

Teacher shows Wildebeest to students with MovieTalk technique, applying the skills and steps of TPRS to the traditional MovieTalk activity. As the teacher narrates the dialogue, s/he uses the sentence frame "I think that [it is a log]" and "I don't think that [it is a log]", and asking questions to the class, "Does [wildebeest 1] agree with [wildebeest 2]?".
Four Modalities

Listening: Students listen to the teacher describing the short film

Reading: Students read a summary of the film after the MovieTalk is complete

Writing: Students copy a sentence from the summary to play Write, Draw, Pass

Speaking: Students respond with 1-2 word answers to the teacher's questions, students retell the story using the Blind Retell format after reading the summary

Real World Preparation
Expressing your thoughts, Expressing agreement/disagreement, Reporting what someone else says and thinks, Expressing identity
Student Centered
Simple, repetitive plot; Humorous film; Simple language; Builds off 'Dice' story script
Possible extensions:

Watch videos/learn about predators and prey in areas in which the target language is spoken

Students write an alternate ending to the story

Watch real life videos of Wildebeest and crocodiles

Watch video of woman threatening a crocodile with a Chancla

By reflecting on the three components of proficiency (Content, Function, and Accuracy), and considering the characteristics of proficiency oriented instruction, my hope is that you will be able to plan your best school year yet, confident that your courses are comprehension based and oriented toward proficiency.

I have begun the process of detailing the elements of proficiency oriented instruction present in each of the units from my SOMOS Level 1 and SOMOS Level 2 curricula. I will be adding this element to the Unit Overview, which will be available in each unit download folder from Teachers Pay Teachers. Here is the completed overview for SOMOS 1 Unit 01:

And now...your turn!

Would you describe an activity that you have planned for this year? Explain which characteristics of proficiency oriented instruction it embodies, and offer ideas for extensions to fill in the gaps!

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What is Proficiency Oriented Language Instruction?

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As language teachers, our goal for our students is to be more proficient in the target language when they complete our course than when they began. We probably have other goals for our students (being more kind, more empathetic, more responsible, more culturally aware), but all of these objectives fit into the overarching mission of PROFICIENCY.

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How to teach such that they understand – The Comprehensible Classroom

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How to teach such that they understand – The Comprehensible Classroom

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If we want language to come OUT of our students' mouths, we must get language IN to their heads. They need INput so that they can produce OUTput.

" Input is reading and listening

" Output is speaking and writing

This is common sense. A learner cannot utter an expression in a new language if they have never heard it or seen it. No one disagrees that input precedes output, and all language teachers are looking for ways to provide their students with input.

Yet not all input is created equal, and this is where we find some space for professional debate. If you've been with me for any length of time, you know that the kind of input that I'm after is comprehensible input:

Comprehensible input is language input that can be understood by listeners despite them not understanding all the words and structures in it. - TeachingEnglish.org

In other words, "comprehensible" means that the input is reasonably able to be understood by a learner or collective group of learners.

Krashen originally defined comprehensible input as language input at level "i + 1"; language input that is slightly more advanced than their current interlanguage .

With a range of linguistic competencies in a given class , however, "comprehensible" becomes quite subjective. What is comprehensible to one learner might be altogether incomprehensible to another. Meaningful utterances to one learner may be nothing more than noise to another.

As language teachers, we all try to speak to our students in such a way that they understand. We all try to give our students written texts that we think they will be able to make sense of! But how do we know that they DO understand what we think that they will understand? How do we take a written or oral text that is comprehensible (probably understandable) to most of our students and ensure that it is comprehenDED by all of our students? What checks and balances can we put in place to make sure that we are on the right track?

Moving from comprehensible to comprehended input

There are many comprehension supports that we can use (1) to help a learner understand a message and the individual words and phrases that we use to communicate it, (2) to determine whether or not an individual is understanding a message, and (3) to make adjustments to the message accordingly.

These supports are tools in your language teacher tool belt. Some of them are cheap tools-tools that won't cost you blood, sweat, and tears to obtain. They are tools that come naturally to you. Other tools (skills) are very costly, and it will take weeks...months...years of work to add them to your tool belt.

Let's dig in and explore the top comprehension support tools that we can use to take comprehensible input and ensure that it is comprehended by our learners.

Teach to the eyes

Susan Gross coined this phrase, and all teachers-not just language teachers-should live and die by this tool. When you teach, look your students in the eye. Draw near to them and hold their gaze. As you do, you will see the sparkle of understanding. You will see the flicker of confusion. You will see their eyes dart away to look for clues to help interpret your message when the words themselves are not enough. You will connect with them as they hold your gaze, confident in their interpretation of your message. Teach to your students' eyes.

Ask questions

Ask all kinds of questions! Ask confirmation questions (I went to the store. Did I go to the store?). Ask yes/no questions (Did I go to the store? Yes or no?). Ask either/or questions (Did I go to the store or to the movies?). Ask question-word-questions (Where did I go?). Ask follow-up questions (Why did I go to the store?). Ask comprehension questions (What did I just say in English?). Ask questions about the students' lives (more on that later).Asking questions clarifies the meaning of the original statement in the learner's mind. Asking questions confirms to them that they correctly understood the message or reveals to them a hole in comprehension. Asking questions allows them to hear the words again, moving them ever farther on the path to acquisition of a term. Asking questions well engages students and connects them with you and with each other.

SLOW DOWN. Now slow down some more!! You think you are going as slow as you can go? Good! Now go slower!!

But what does "going slow" mean? It is so much more than rate of speech; words per minute. And I am not even going to write about this because Blair Richards has already written everything that you need to know about slowing down in this beautiful reflection on her experience working with a Mentor Teacher at iFLT 2018. Click here to learn what slowing down means.

You don't have to wait for your students to not understand your message to rephrase it. Rephrasing is a fantastic tool that you can use preemptively to keep all learners on the same page in addition to using it as an 'intervention' when you realize that learners have not understood. I have been listening to The Green Ember with my kids in the car lately. With my oldest child just six years old, the language and text structure in The Green Ember is at times incomprehensible to my kids. Pair that with the fact that it is sometimes hard to hear (thank you, screeching 2 year old!) and that there are many distractions waiting outside the windows of the car ("half naked pine tree forest!"), and there are many times that I guess that my kids have not understood the last piece of the story. So what do I do? I pause and I ask a question, "Did you understand that part?" and whether they answer "yes" or "no", I respond with an affirmation and then rephrase the content: "That's right!/Almost/You got it!...Picket was hurt really badly but he wanted everyone else to think he was tough and so he pretended that he wasn't hurt". You can rephrase things that you have said, language that students have read, or language produced by someone else (a recording, a classmate, etc.).

Simplify sentences

Simplifying sentences can mean two things. The first way to simplify a sentence is to cut out unnecessary information, communicating just the 'meat and bones' of the message. Instead of saying "The clean living room was bright and airy and sparkled in the light of the noonday sun pouring through the window shades", you could say, "The living room was clean and sunny".

The second way to simplify a sentence is to break it down into smaller pieces. Instead of saying, "I went to the grocery store with my mom to buy milk so that I could eat cereal for breakfast", you could say, "I wanted to eat breakfast. I wanted to eat cereal. I didn't have milk. I went to the grocery store. I went with my mom. We bought milk." You're not going to win a Pulitzer Prize for your writing, but your students are going to understand you better.

Shelter vocabulary

To shelter is to protect from something harmful-but what's so dangerous about words?

I'll tell you what. It's NOT UNDERSTANDING. Guys, not understanding sucks. It's stressful and it makes us feel dumb and inadequate and all around bad. Have you ever been in a situation in which someone is speaking to you-perhaps in another language, perhaps in broken language, perhaps too quietly, perhaps mumbled-and you ask them to repeat a few times and you still don't get it? Not understanding something that another person wants you to understand doesn't feel good. It feels bad. Also, it's a roadblock that is very hard to get past and continue the conversation. We shelter vocabulary in order to shelter our students from not understanding.

If you want your students to understand you, you must use mostly words that they understand! This isn't rocket science but it is a total paradigm shift from the ways in which most of us learned language and the ways that we learned to teach language. If you want students to understand you, you must limit the number of words that you are using. In particular, you must limit the number of lemmas (root words) that you are using. Sheltering students from large quantities of unfamiliar words will allow them to skillfully use context clues to fill in the holes left in texts that are filled with mostly familiar words.

Link meaning to L1

If you are teaching a group of students that share a common language already-whether or not it is their first language-linking meaning between the target language and the common language is an immensely useful tool to ensure that input is comprehended. You can tell students what specific words or phrases when you first use them (ex: 'quiere' means 'wants'), or you can check for comprehension by asking questions about the meaning of utterances (ex: "Bob quiere un elefante...what does that mean in English?"). Linking meaning to L1 is my preferred method of establishing meaning for new words and phrases that my students read and hear, and I prefer to write out the pairs so that students can see them and reference them during conversations. You will see many teachers that use comprehension based methods writing the target language with a marker and L1 in a marker, but really you can do whatever you want :).

Contrast meaning

After you've made a statement, a fairly simple and often fun way to support students' comprehension is to make a parallel statement or set up a parallel scenario. This is the beauty of the " Three Ring Circus" and " Contrastive Grammar ", but contrasting meaning can happen in any context.

For example:

El elefante vive en África (The elephant lives in Africa.)

El cocodrilo no vive en África. El cocodrilo vive en Australia. (The crocodile lives in Australia.)

Yo no vivo en África. Yo no vivo en Australia. Yo vivo en América del Norte.

By contrasting these statements, students' comprehension of the verb vivir (to live), the various continents, as well as different forms of the verb vivir ( vive/vivo) is supported. Each new, contrasting statement that you bring in will confirm and clarify the meaning of the original statement as well as helping to interpret the new information with increased fluency and accuracy.

Pop up grammar

While we know that language's internal structure does not consist of rules, and for that reason there are always exceptions to rules that we try to use to describe how language works, it can be helpful to some students to learn general rules about the target language. Learners-in particular high aptitude learners-may be able to better understand utterances when they apply background knowledge about the structure of language to the new utterance. For example:

Teacher: El elefante vivE en África. Yo vivO en Vermont. The 'o' on the end of 'vivo' means that I am the one the verb is referring to, I am the one that lives in Vermont.

Pop up grammar should be really, really short 'asides'-quick comments that give concise information about a specific linguistic feature. And while they are traditionally viewed as a tool to help learners better interpret the language moving forward, they can also be helpful in removing roadblocks for those learners whose focus on the form of the language keeps them from focusing on the meaning. This crippling focus on form is a habit that needs to be broken, and pop-up grammar is an easy way to give those learners a crutch to keep moving forward even when they don't understand every single discreet item in an utterance in addition to its role in the language as a whole.

Personalize

At surface level, personalization is an example of some of the tools that we have already covered: asking questions and contrasting meaning. But personalization is a special kind of question-asking; a special kind of meaning-contrast, and so it merits the status of a stand-alone tool.

We learn what we feel. Connecting what students hear and what they read in the target language to their lives, their background knowledge, and their ideas will help them to internalize it more profoundly and more quickly. In one of my sessions at iFLT last week, I was demonstrating a game that worked with the topic of the World Cup. One of the questions was about who had scored the most goals during the 2018 World Cup and presented numbers of goals. Well, I had no idea when I wrote that question that there was a big controversy surrounding a goal by Harry Kane. How did I find out? One of Harry Kane's biggest fans was in my workshop, and he answered the question only begrudgingly, ensuring that everyone in the class knew that he was choosing the best answer out of what he believed to be all incorrect answers.

And you know what? I live for those moments. Look for opportunities to talk with your students about the things that get them excited, angry, sad, scared, and make them laugh! Find out what they care about and then press in. We remember what we feel. If you want your students to remember the language, use it to talk about memorable things.

Link meaning to visuals and sounds

The last six tools that I use to support comprehension for language learners are all related; each one links meaning of the L2 utterance to a visual or to a sound.

If you have played Charades or Pictionary or Cranium or any game like those, you know that some people are more skilled than others at making themselves understood using these tools! As with all of the other tools that I have described in this post, you can become more skilled than you are right now at using these tools to support learners' comprehension of L2. In fact, I attended an Improv session with Gary DiBianca at OFLA 2018 in which he focused on helping attendees to consider how to better use our voices, our bodies, and our environments to make ourselves understood. Learn how to draw better. Learn how to look differently at the objects in your classroom, to see the possibilities that they offer as props. Learn how to use sound effects in creative ways. Train yourself to use gestures as you speak the target language to your students. Make faces in front of your mirror as you say expressions in your target language. Play Charades! Play Pictionary! Practice, practice, practice, and I am confident that you will reap the rewards of your hard work as you offer new, clearer links in meaning to your students.

Practice makes perfect

As you can see, we have many tools available to us as we strive to ensure that our students are understanding what we think they will understand-so many, in fact, that it is all quite overwhelming. How can you guarantee that you are making use of all of the tools that are available to you? How can you be sure that you have chosen the right tools for a given job?

Practice. Practice, practice, practice.

Psychology researcher Philippa Lally published a study demonstrating that on average, it takes 66 days to form a habit.

SIXTY SIX DAYS.

How long have you been practicing the skill of slowing down? How long have you been working with concerted effort to shelter vocabulary? For how many days in class have you reminded yourself to simplify the sentences you speak to your students?

In Lally's study, participants formed habits after as few as 18 and as many as 254 days. On average it took them 66-but that was within a huge range!

Some of these tools are ones that you have already added to your tool belt; they are already habits. Others will come easily to you. And some of them will take continual, concerted effort. Form the habit of using each one of these tools. Focus on one or two at a time until you find yourself using them without thinking about it. And once you reach that point, look for opportunities to work with a trained Coach to hone your skills even further. Don't try to get better at all of them at the same time; focus your attention on them sequentially.

I made a second version of the the graphic from this post that you can print out and use as a way to organize and strategize your skill building. Color in or cross off any tools that you think you are already doing really well. If you are feeling really brave, try teaching a mini lesson in front of or or to a trusted colleague. Have that colleague tell you what you did best!! (Need to find a trusted colleague? Check out Mike Peto's list of Regional PLCs for language teachers.) Then look at which tools are left on the board and circle 1-2 to focus on as you head into the coming school year. Keep them visible in your physical space as a reminder to you to employ them as you strive to make your comprehensible input comprehended! Revisit the graphic each Friday and reflect on how well you are progressing toward your goal of making that tool a habit.

Make this year your most comprehensible year yet!

If you are interested in bringing a Coach to your school or organization to work with your teachers, I would love to connect you with the Coaching Team so that they can in turn connect you with an experienced coach in your area. Contact me! I mentioned Gary DiBianca's Improv workshop in this post, and I would highly recommend bringing him to your district or organization to work with teachers to improve their comprehension based skills. Gary is one of the most experienced coaches and trainers in the CI world, and the Improv angle is just one of the ways he helps teachers to get better at what they do!

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How to teach such that they understand - The Comprehensible Classroom

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If we want language to come OUT of our students' mouths, we must get language IN to their heads. They need INput so that they can produce OUTput. " Input is reading and listening " Output is speaking and writing This is common sense. A learner cannot utter an expression in a new language if...

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Dip your toes in CI: Get moving with TPR – The Comprehensible Classroom

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Dip your toes in CI: Get moving with TPR – The Comprehensible Classroom

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For some of us, change happens fast. We take in information, make a decision, and take action immediately.

For others of us, change happens slowly. We take in information, wrestle with it, take an action step, take a step back, take in more information, wrestle some more, take a few action steps, take a step back....you get the idea.

If you are of the latter group-at least when it comes to implementing changes in your language classroom-then this post is for you. I began this "Dip your toes in CI" series last summer, and now that the weather is warm and I am swimming in lakes again, I figured it is about time to finish up the last two posts in the series 😉

Whether you are coming back from a big summer conference or have been catching glimpses of what comprehension based language teaching looks like on various social media platforms, I hope that this post will give you the confidence you need to try out something new this fall.

Total Physical Response (TPR) is a method for teaching language that was developed by Dr. James Asher. While TPR can carry a class much further than most teachers realize, it does have its limits. TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling), developed by Blaine Ray, was borne out of TPR. Blaine created TPRS as a way to expand the success of TPR by adding a new step to the process. But we aren't here to learn about TPRS-not today. Today is about TPR.

Using TPR can introduce a boatload of vocabulary to students very quickly. With repeated uses of commands within a TPR session or TPR sessions, you will find that students have quite a solid ability to interpret the commands and are ready to work with them in different modalities (reading, writing, speaking).

TPR allows students a silent period. They are not to say anything (well, unless the command given is to say something!); simply to listen.

TPR focuses the learner on the MESSAGE, not on FORM. This is a key indicator that an instructional strategy leads to acquisition, not explicit learning. Language acquisition is a natural, subconscious process-a process of which anyone that learned a first language is capable of. Language learning is not nearly as equitable as language acquisition, and it quickly sorts students into high and low aptitude. TPR results in language acquisition, and it is therefore both a successful and an equitable strategy to use in class.

TPR reinforces the organizational structure of the class: the teacher is the authority, and the students follow the teacher's commands. A well established and accepted organizational structure is important for the relationships between teacher-student and student-student and for the flow of the class as the year moves on. Through TPR, students become accustomed to listening to and obeying the teacher. During TPR, the commands that the students are following are fun, and compliance is usually by choice. The subliminal message is that when you follow the teacher's commands, you are successful, have fun, and strengthen relationships. This is a good thing!

TPR links each target language word to a movement. This connection helps students to internalize the meaning of the new word.

TPR gets students moving. Movement has proven health benefits-too numerous too list.

"There are two sides to communication - interpretation and expression. A learner's job in the early stages is largely interpretation." - Bill VanPatten

Why do you TPR? What benefits have you experienced as a teacher and a learner? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

With TPR, you will essentially be working with three factors:

Subjects: The class, everyone, individual students, pairs, small groups of students (named or sharing a designated quality, such as 'boys', 'brunettes', etc.)

Verbs: Primarily, verbs of movement:

Stand up [slowly, on a desk, five times]

Sit down [on the floor, quickly, in five seconds, by the door]

Walk [three steps, forward, with a friend]

Run [for 10 seconds, like a turtle, romantically]

Look at [a friend, the ceiling, the color red]

Point [to the teacher, to your foot, to something orange]

Jump [like a frog, backward, to the board]

Touch [your nose, a book]

Grab [your ear, a pencil]

Give [a high five, a pencil, a smile]

Lift [your finger, a book, the desk]

Open [your hands, your eyes, your arms]

Close [your fist, your mouth, your eyes]

Turn [to a partner, to the left, to the right, around]

Laugh [like Michael Jackson, like a baby, nervously]

Cry [quietly, dramatically, with a friend]

Leave [through the door, the group, with a friend]

Form [a group of 5, the letter A, a chain of 4]

Say [your name, hello, pleased to meet you]

Freeze/Stop!

Adverbs: What are your favorite subjects, verbs, and adverbs to use with TPR? Share in the comments!!

1. Start with a single command. Say it in a firm voice.

2. Gesture the command to establish meaning-in my experience, TPR works better when students are only responsible for listening; not for reading the words as well.

3. Repeat the command until all students follow along.

4. Add a contrasting command.

5. Play with the two commands, saying them back to back several times.

6. Bring in an adverb or adverbial phrase. If possible, choose a cognate. DO show students the printed word if it is a cognate! Below is a slideshow that includes some adverb-cognates in Spanish.

7. Slowly-very slowly-bring in new commands as students. A mantra from iFLT this last week was "Go slow to go fast". Once you have 3-4 contrasting commands, don't add any more! Discipline yourself to not bring in more words! See how long you can go with just those 3-4 commands, playing around with different student groups and adverbs. Keep going as long as you can maintain interest!

8. When interest wanes or you feel like moving on, do!

Eventually, you might want to spin a story from a TPR session-but this post is about dipping toes in CI, so we will leave that for another day.

SAMPLE TPR SEQUENCE:

And speaking of commands, perhaps you just want someone to tell you what to do for your first go at TPR! Don't worry-I've got you covered! Use this simple starter sequence to help you try out TPR with confidence. I think you will find that you can very quickly apply the rhythm to other commands and create your own interesting, effective TPR sessions!

1. Class, stand up (gesture for everyone to stand up).

2. Class, sit down(gesture for everyone to sit down).

3. Class, stand up!

4. Class, sit down.

5. Class, stand up FAST (gesture to do it fast and/or show adverbs slide with translation)!

6. Class, sit down FAST!

7. Class, sit down (students should do a little 'bop' in their seats).

8. Class, sit down (bop again).

9. Class, stand up SLOWLY (gesture to do it slowly and/or show adverbs slide with translation!

10. Class, sit down SLOWLY!

11. Class, stand up SLOWLY.

12. Class, sit down FAST.

13. Class, stand up FAST.

14. Class, sit down SLOWLY.

15. [Student A, B & C], stand up!

16. [Student D, E, & F], stand up!

17. [Student A & D], sit down!

18. [Student B & F], sit down!

19. Everyone, stand up!

20. [Student C & E], sit down!

21. [Student G] stand up!

22. [Student G], sit down!

23. [Student G], stand up slowly!
[Student H], stand up fast!

24. [Student I], stand up fast!

25. [Student J], stand up fast!

26. [Students G & I], sit down slowly...on [Student B] *make sure that these students are all friends and you are confident that they wouldn't mind this!

27. Everyone, sit down [on the floor].

28. Everyone, stand up fast!

29. Everyone, sit down slowly.

30. Everyone, sit down and look at (gesture look at (hands to your eyes like binoculars)) [Student A].

31. Everyone, look at [Student C].

32. Everyone, look at [Student D].

33. Everyone, stand up and look at [Student H].

34. [Student H], sit down slowly.

35. [Student I], sit down slowly.

36. Everyone, look at [students H & I].

37. [Student H], look at [Student I].

38. [Student I], look at [Student H].

39. [Student H], look at [Student I] romantically.

40. [Student I], don't look at [Student H] romantically.

41. [Student I], stand up fast.

42. [Student I], look at [Student C].

43. [Student C], don't look at [Student I].

44. [Student I], look at [Student C] romantically.

45. [Student C], don't look at [Student I].

46. Don't look at [Student I]!

47. Quick! [Student C], look at [Student I] fast.

I had the pleasure of attending a fantastic workshop on TPR at OFLA earlier this year, presented by Teri Wiechart. Teri is an experienced teacher-trainer and coach, and I would highly recommend her services as an independent consultant for any world language program! Click here to connect with Teri!
Get other toe-dipping ideas in these posts:

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Dip your toes in CI: Get moving with TPR

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For some of us, change happens fast. We take in information, make a decision, and take action immediately. For others of us, change happens slowly. We take in information, wrestle with it, take an action step, take a step back, take in more information, wrestle some more, take a few action steps, take a step back....you get the idea.

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Krashen and Terrell (1983) recommend two criteria for determining whether reading materials are appropriate for ESL learners: The reading must be 1) at a comprehensible level of complexity and 2) interesting to the reader.

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Today's tip is brought you by Dave! Dave's CI journey started 2.5 years ago. When he read the material online, he knew there were a number of ways to apply it in the classroom. Not sure where to start, Dave dived head first, and started attending CI conferences around the country.

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What (M)OPI Training Can Teach Us About Proficiency - Ma revolution française

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What (M)OPI Training Can Teach Us About Proficiency - Ma revolution française

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In proficiency circles, I'd heard that ACTFL's OPI training was a game-changer. Since I've devoted the past four years to changing up my teaching game, I desperately wanted to do an OPI workshop to make sure I knew my proficiency levels backward and forward. Although I'd spent time learning about proficiency from Chantal Thompson and reviewing OPI interviews with experts like Greg Duncan and Thomas Sauer, I needed to see and process more examples in French for the levels that I target and teach: Novice High through Intermediate Mid.

Through a series of minor miracles and some heavy lifting by my department head, I was able to get funding and permission to fly across the country to attend a 2-day French MOPI workshop in Seattle at the very end of the school year. I got my classroom packed up before school closed, submitted my grades early for the first time *ever*, signed my husband up for a series of complicated drop-offs, classroom performances, and pick-ups at our kids' elementary school...and off I went to pursue my proficiency dreams!

​The learning began right away:

As much as I've worked to align my curriculum with proficiency targets, I still have room to grow. For example, this tweet about the use of register in relation to the speaker's proficiency level points out that my students may not be accurate with vous and tu for years to come. Yet this topic often comes up in the first chapters of French 1 textbooks. Over and over again, I have to comb through my curriculum and consider how what I'm teaching compares to my learning targets for students. If I want to get my French 8 students to Intermediate Low, I need to hone in on those structures and prioritize them. Getting distracted by Advanced skills won't help anyone.

We revisited the famous proficiency tree and its component parts early on in the workshop. I loved the presenter's reminder that an autumnal tree leaves is still a tree! Later on, ACTFL presenter Ryan Rockaitis asked us how much grammar is essential for a learner to reach Novice (eg to make lists and speak at the word level). The answer? NONE. But how much grammar do we teach in introductory courses? Quite a bit, it would seem. This takeaway made me, yet again, want to sans revisit the structures I currently teach in a systematic and intentional way, in order to see how they align to proficiency descriptors. I think I can get rid of more than just direct and indirect object pronouns by using this standard! And, I'd like to focus more on those key structures that allow a learner to reach Intermediate, especially question-asking. I interviewed a really solid questioner for my practice OPI, and that skill added so much to his proficiency.

Comprehensibility was a big focus of the workshop. Since I can get tripped up by expressions like "accustomed," "unaccustomed," "native," and "non-native," I found it helpful when the presenter simplified things a bit: Novices are understood with difficulty, even by their teachers. Intermediates are understood by their teachers. Advanced speakers are understood by monolinguals. In a department meeting earlier this year, a French native colleague said about a student's use of circumlocution, "My mother wouldn't understand that." So I imagine Christine's monolingual mom now when I consider if my students meet the Advanced standard for comprehensibility. False friends? Incomprehensible. Anglicisms? Incomprehensible. And so on...

Learning to be an OPI tester involves knowing when to ask which sort of question, as I wrote in this tweet about the general logic of question-asking and proficiency levels. Dorie Conlon Perugini does a very nice job summarizing the order of an OPI here, and you'll see from her infographic that once you've figured out what to discuss with your interviewee, the major focus becomes which questions to ask him or her. One helpful pointer from the workshop was to either change topic or level when asking a new question, but never both at once. So if you're asking Intermediate questions about vacations, you can go on to ask Intermediate questions about sports for instance, OR you can stick with vacations and move up to an Advanced question. But no jumping to Advanced questions about sports - that's just too much all at once.

I found it hard to get out of asking yes/no and either/or questions during my interview, and I saw some of my colleagues struggle with this, too. I'm hoping that watching and analyzing more recorded interviews will help train me to ask the bigger, deeper questions. One tip from our French trainer was to ask " Quels sont les avantages/désavantages de...?" instead of asking if the interviewee likes something. I never use this chunk with my students, but you can bet I'm adding it to my repertoire for September! Open-ended questions like " Comment est...?" and " Parle-moi de..." were winners for eliciting answers from Intermediates, but we had some tight-lipped interviewees who did not bite. You can bring a horse to water, my friends, but ...

When it came time to "probe" (aka see how much further one could push up toward a higher level) and find out if an interviewee were Advanced, narrations were the top priority, hands down. We were told to elicit two to three extended narrations from a speaker, mostly in the past but sometimes in the future. In one interview that I observed, a speaker was able to narrate in the past but not in the future - which I found shocking! All to say that you need to elicit evidence of both in order to be sure: hearing is believing. Another suggestion from our trainer was to ask for cultural comparisons as a way to elicit Advanced speech (see tweet above). I am constantly asking my middle school students to make comparisons, and I was thrilled to see how these concrete, simple comparisons are putting them on the road toward Advanced.

Perhaps my biggest takeaway was the role of evidence in determining a speaker's proficiency level. Having recently become a National Board Certified Teacher, I have spent the last few years collecting evidence of my students' learning. I also just finished my first year using standards-based grading, so I have studied student work for evidence of various rubric descriptors on many occasions. But this is new stuff for me - documenting and studying evidence was just not part of my practice until very recently. And yet, it is so important to our work as teachers! At times during our practice interviews, participants would say, " Well, he was so shy, that's why he didn't give longer answers" or " She didn't like France, you could just tell. That's why she didn't say much." But we didn't know any of that for sure...all we knew is what we heard. We can and must assess a speaker's proficiency based solely on the evidence we can elicit. When we stray from evidence, we risk misjudging a speaker. Before hearing some of the practice interviews, I would not have thought it possible for a speaker to ask interesting questions yet speak in less than full sentences. I had to hear it with my own ears to believe it.

The MOPI workshop concluded with a rich presentation by Ryan Rockaitis about applying proficiency principles to classroom instruction. Here are three great takeaways from his talk:

I'm sure I'll be digesting my MOPI takeaways further in the days and weeks to come, but I can say that the training met my expectations and gave me lots to consider as I contemplate my teaching for proficiency. Have you attended MOPI training? What did you learn and how have you applied that learning to your classroom setting?

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What (M)OPI Training Can Teach Us About Proficiency

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In proficiency circles, I'd heard that ACTFL's OPI training was a game-changer. Since I've devoted the past four years to changing up my teaching game, I desperately wanted to do an OPI workshop to make sure I knew my proficiency levels backward and forward.

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World Languages Assessments | Curriculum and Instruction

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World Languages Assessments | Curriculum and Instruction

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The Vlogger

I'm a Wisconsin high school Spanish teacher from California, I've taught K-12 over the past 12 years, and our department is excited to have recently implemented the UW-Green Bay Dual Enrollment Program . I've also taught at The Concordia Language Villages and as a Global Discovery Leader for in Sevilla, España.

I've attended , , , and La Universidad de Sevilla . I have a BS in Spanish, a MS in Education, and A LOT more useful knowledge from workshops, amazing colleagues, and social media superstars. I was selected as a Wisconsin State Teacher of the Year in , which has created just as much stress as joy, because I fear that many expect TOY perfection that I can't maintain.

My favorite teaching methods include providing comprehensible input using while riding a unicycle, target language karaoke with class dance-offs, skits using a variety of wigs, and drawing sweet dry-erase cartoons to increase comprehension.

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The Vlogger I'm a Wisconsin high school Spanish teacher from California, I've taught K-12 over the past 12 years, and our department is excited to have recently implemented the UW-Green Bay Dual Enrollment Program. I've also taught at The Concordia Language Villages and as a Global Discovery Leader for CIEE in Sevilla, España.

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Free Professional Development for World Language Teachers | Fun for Spanish Teachers

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Free Professional Development for World Language Teachers | Fun for Spanish Teachers

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Let's be honest! Paying for professional development from a teacher salary is not an easy thing. Many school districts also have limited budgets to pay for outside professional development. I remember a time when I really wanted to attend a weekend conference in the same state of the school where I taught, and I had to put my name in a hat along with seven other Spanish teachers to choose to winners to go to the conference. I remember being sad because I didn't have the opportunity to attend. Going to a conference or a training also give you the opportunity to meet other colleagues face to face, and as I refer to it, "sharing the same air with people who like to do the same you do."

Nowadays, there are endless possibilities for free professional development online. The teaching community is one of those communities where individuals really like to find ways to give back and offering opportunities for others to have access to professional development at no cost is one of them. Planning your summer? Here are some options for you!

The University of Texas at Austin has a complete course called "Foreign Language Teaching Methods." It has different modules for teachers to get training in the different aspects of language teaching.

Twitter Chats

Have an awesome professional development from the comfort of your own couch!

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Free Professional Development for World Language Teachers

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Let's be honest! Paying for professional development from a teacher salary is not an easy thing. Many school districts also have limited budgets to pay for outside professional development.

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What is Grammar Instruction? – The Comprehensible Classroom

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What is Grammar Instruction? – The Comprehensible Classroom

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What is grammar instruction? What does it do for language acquisition, and what should its role be in a language classroom?

These are some of the questions that a group of enthusiastic language teachers tackled on Friday evening at OFLA with Keynote speaker, Paul Toth ( read his bio here). Following Carol Gaab's address at the OFLA awards group, myself and a group of friends and a few teaching heroes (including Teri Wiechert, who had just been presented with OFLA's Distinguished Career award), I approached Paul to tell him to be expecting an email from Diane Neubauer, a friend and master Chinese teacher that is working on her PhD right now (Diane blogs over at Ignite Language, along with Haiyun Lu and Alina Filipescu). One thing led to another, and before the night was out we found ourselves huddled in a group at the hotel restaurant with a queue of questions to discuss with Paul.

In this post, I am going to write out my notes from the conversation (which I scribbled on a series of napkins) along with some personal commentary. If you get excited thinking about these things, I encourage you to join Eric Herman's Acquisition Classroom Forum. You will receive his weekly memo (digestible bits of theory) and access to the member forum, where you can discuss the big ideas of language acquisition and language teaching to your heart's content!

In this post, I am going to share a lot of ideas that I don't know the answers to, that I haven't considered, that I haven't dug into. This is- as Sara-Elizabeth would say-me boldly thinking in public. Or perhaps thinking aloud dangerously in public. This post is about questions, not conclusions-and I encourage you to join the conversation.

The starting point for our conversation was the question, "Is or is not consciousness completely disconnected from the development of language?".

Paul argues that c onsciousness is not completely disconnected from development of language. The part of our brain in which language lives and the part of our brain in which grammar lives are different, but they work together in the moment of communication.

I expressed that this resonated with me because of my experience at the conference. Since leaving the classroom to be home full-time with my kids, I have noticed that my Spanish proficiency is fading. For this reason, it is really important to me to communicate in Spanish whenever possible when I have the opportunity to be with Spanish speakers. At OFLA, I got to spend a lot of time with my friend Nelly Hughes (who has edited many of the novels that you know and love using, and who has an amazing store on TpT). While I was speaking in Spanish with Nelly, I was working really hard to say the right thing. I was aware that as words were coming out of my mouth-in real time-my brain was sorting through information that I know in order to produce the language accurately: "oh I need to use subjunctive...should this be preterite or imperfect...how should I say this...?". So when Paul said that those parts of our brain work together in the moment...well...that described what I had been experiencing throughout the conference.

One important thing to point out is that I have studied language for a long time and my proficiency level (at least at some point in time) was Advanced and I am a highly motivated learner. A question that we didn't have time to discuss with Paul was whether there is a "threshold" of acquired language that is needed in order for that conscious interaction to occur.
Paul went on to say that, "THE INTERNAL SCRIPT IN YOUR HEAD COUNTS AS INPUT".
Hm...this is interesting to me! To me, "grammar speak" is comprehensible; I understand it. So since I understand those grammar rules, do they work the same way as what we traditionally know to be comprehensible input?

We all agreed that the real problem is that we don't have a good definition of Grammar Instruction. In the interest of rejecting the kind of un-contextualized, drill-heavy grammar instruction that most of us grew up with, we have perhaps thrown out the baby with the bathwater. When we hear "grammar instruction", we think "drills". But maybe if we redefined grammar instruction, we would not hate it so much. Could we define it as...

..."Drawing attention to the fact that something grammatical is transpiring"? (Carol Gaab brought up the Noticing Hypothesis when Paul made this statement).

Paul pointed out that, "We are conscious beings. We want to know what is going on and why." - so how could grammar instruction be categorically harmful or helpful?

Another thing is for certain: Grammar Instruction needs to be more meaningful (happening at the right moment) to be effective. When should grammar instruction be delivered?

Paul compared grammar instruction to directions. Imagine that you are in a new city and you need to get to a destination across town. Consider these three scenarios:

1. You ask for directions at the front desk of your hotel, and they recite a long list that references cardinal directions and street names (go north on Pierre Street until you reach Seventh, then head East for six blocks and continue north on Landon Ave.....).

2. You spot a paper map on the binder on your hotel room desk, and you look for the destination on the map. You make a quick mental note of the most simple route to get from here to there.

3. You pop the destination into the Maps app on your iPhone and start walking, listening to play-by-play instructions (heck, if you're really feeling crazy you use Waze and then have so much fun jamming out to your Boy Band directions that you make it in record time-Elissa McLean introduced me to that feature ;-))

Now, which of those scenarios was most effective? Consider how each one might compare to grammar instruction. In Scenario 1, you give grammar instruction before students have ever seen the language that the rules attempt to describe. In Scenario 2, you show students the language first and then expose a rule. In Scenario 3, you help students notice grammatical features in real time, as they interact with input and output. To put it another way, where are your learners now, and what do they need to engage meaningfully in the language at this moment?

The Goldilocks analogy not only works for authentic resources , but for grammar instruction as well: How much information is too much? How much is not enough? And how much is just right?

Further considering what grammar instruction should look like and ultimately achieve, Paul gave this analogy:

The purpose of our classes is for students to be able to use language as a tool to do things in the real world. If Chapter One in your textbook features "The Hammer" (representing grammar feature X), what do you do with it? Are you going to build something (communicate), or are you going to bang around (drill)?

"Having rigid rules is a disservice." This statement applies not only to grammar instruction, but also to questions such as 90 percent target language use and the exclusive use of authentic resources in class:

Use L2 as much as possible and English only when necessary.

In preparing students to be and do things in the real world. What is more important: the end (students being able to be and do things in the real world), or the means (the strategies and materials that you use to prepare students for that end: authentic and teacher-created materials, novels written for language learners, digestible grammar information, etc.)?

What about the role of output? Is output nothing more than a byproduct of input? Paul agrees that it is certainly more important for intermediates than it is for novices, although he stated that labeling it a "byproduct" is an oversimplification that downplays the role of agency in the language learner.

Finally, I intended to ask Paul for his thoughts on this statement that @Michelle_Kindt shared in her morning workshop, but by that time there were like five questions in queue from other people in the conversation, and we said goodnight before I got my answer. Next time 😉

Please join me in thinking boldly about these things in public, and join Eric's Acquisition Classroom! We must think critically about what we do and why, and these are important questions to ask-and to continue to ask even after you are reasonably confident with your answers.

I am looking forward to a post on the CI Peek blog in the coming weeks in which Paul will keep the conversation going!! Be sure to subscribe so that you get notified when it comes out!!

And as a closing question- how would YOU define Grammar Instruction??

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What is grammar instruction? What does it do for language acquisition, and what should its role be in a language classroom? These are some of the questions that a group of enthusiastic language teachers tackled on Friday evening at OFLA with Keynote speaker, Paul Toth ( read his bio here).

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Posts about Let's play! written by SenoraChase

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A.S.K. Me about National Geographic Certification – Somewhere to Share

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A.S.K. Me about National Geographic Certification – Somewhere to Share

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My path to proficiency as a language educator has taken many different turns. From new jobs to new adventures in the language community at large, I have tried to never get so comfortable that I stop moving down the path.

Last summer, at IFLT in Denver, a friend asked me if I had ever considered National Geographic certification. To be honest, I hadn't even heard of it. I'd used many National Geographic video resources over the years but had never gone to the National Geographic Education site and looked at their resources. What I found when I began to explore put my mind directly into planning mode. All I could think was "so many resources, so little time"!

The National Geographic certification process was not hard. It took some time and some planning but never anything excessive and it was all very rewarding. I did mine by rebuilding an existing, favorite unit and adding resources that National Geographic had already created.

The first step of the process is to become familiar with the Nat Geo learning framework and its acronym, ASK. From Attitudes to Skills to Knowledge, National Geographic explained what they looked for in their explorers and I immediately found things that connected with me and with my students.

Attitudes: Two of the words that jumped out at me immediately were persistant and empowered. When I taught by breaking language down into its component parts, my students' attitudes toward language were poor. There were students, typically those who liked playing the game of school, who studied and memorized and did well but they did not persist in their language study! They were compliant. They conjugated, accented, and filled in blanks but they never emotionally engaged with the language. They didn't feel empowered to use it. For several years now, I have been shifting my focus from typical thematic units to content as the vehicle of language acquisition. As I looked at the National Geographic content, I realized that it was a perfect complement to the units I've been designing to empower my students to use their new language to communicate and to persist in their studies beyond my classroom walls.

Skills: One of the skills that National Geographic values in its explorers is communication. National Geographic students are storytellers. What is more important in language class than developing narrative? Our story as individuals, as a class, and even as part of the bigger world are all narratives that students are learning to tell.

Knowledge: I've taught about the world's water crisis, climate change, food insecurity, and biodiversity and conservation. When I read that the three key subject areas of National Geographic's were "Our Changing Planet", "Our Human Journey", and "Wildlife and Wild Places", I knew that this certification was a perfect fit for my curriculum. Incorporating new pieces into my well-loved units has let me bring in this year's current events like the effects of climate change on coffee and chocolate, the melting arctic ice, and the first rainforest city.

One of my favorite new activities was suggested to me by fellow National Geographic certified Spanish teacher, Abra Koch. Using the National Geographic table top maps, I can introduce my students to the geography of an area by "map talking" what they see. For example, we are studying the Civil War in El Salvador and how many fled the war to the United States via Guatemala and Mexico. I am able to talk about their journey as the students follow along on their maps! They can draw in details, color and outline important features, and even practice giving directions!

The world is so much bigger than the inside of a textbook. Check out National Geographic certification and see for yourself! If you have any questions about the process, tweet at me () and we can connect.

I began teaching Spanish in Illinois in 1994. I have taught levels 1-4 in a small rural high school, 8th grade introductory Spanish, Biology 1, and 101 and 102 at the community college level. My Spanish classes are partnered with the community college to offer students 8 semester hours of dual credit on completion of Spanish 4. In 2011 I met Carol Gaab and Kristy Placido and have since co-authored the book "La hija del sastre" with Carol Gaab and authored the novels "La Calaca Alegre" and "Bianca Nieves y los 7 toritos." through TPRS Publishing. In 2006 I became National Board certified and I have been serving as a mentor both for candidates seeking certification in world languages other than English and a virtual mentor for candidates in all certificate areas. I completed my Masters degree in Spanish education in 2011 and did my research on the use of Understanding by Design to create meaningful cultural units for the language classroom. I am a frequent presenter on this topic, please consider me if you are interested in a workshop on backward design. In 2013 I was named the ICTFL Foreign Language teacher of the year and in 2014 I was selected as CSCTFL's teacher of the year. In November of 2014 I was lucky enough to be one of the five finalists for the ACTFL National Teacher of the Year in San Antonio, TX. What a "Cinderella" experience! You can reach me via email at senoracmt at gmail.com. View all posts by senoracmt

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A.S.K. Me about National Geographic Certification

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My path to proficiency as a language educator has taken many different turns. From new jobs to new adventures in the language community at large, I have tried to never get so comfortable that I stop moving down the path. Last summer, at IFLT in Denver, a friend asked me if I had ever considered National...

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High-Leverage Teaching Practices – ELT Research Bites

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High-Leverage Teaching Practices – ELT Research Bites

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Another acronym rejoice! Yes, okay, all snark aside, the concepts behind this term are very interesting. High-Leverage Teaching Practices (HLTP) are also called high-leverage practices, core practices or simply practice. HLTPs are "teaching practices in which the proficient enactment by a teacher is likely to lead to comparatively large advances in student learning". Such practice must impact learning of all students, be very common in teaching, and be learnable by novice teachers. Kristan Davin and Francis Troyan report in 2015 on four student teachers' implementation of two HLTPs.

The first HLTP was increasing interaction and target language comprehensibility (I-TLC) and the second was questioning to build and assess student understanding. The first core practice was derived from the well supported case for both comprehensible input and interaction. The second core practice of questioning reflects its fundamental role in the language classroom.

Before continuing the summary of the study a short note about the background to practice based teacher development. A practice based approach is distinguished from a best practice approach in that space is given for trainees to rehearse deeply a limited but useful set of practices whereas usually best practice approaches offer an extensive but shallow coverage. The idea of HLTPs was imported from mathematics education (Hlas & Hlas, 2012).

Method
Context
Two teacher training courses in the USA, one for graduate students in a large, public university and one for undergraduate students in a medium-sized, private university. At both universities the authors carried out their study in the second of two methods courses. In one university both the methods course and classroom practice were held at the same place in an assigned high school whereas this was split into two different locations at the other university.
Both teacher programs followed similar syllabuses. For the practices the cycle consisted of 5 classes of demonstration & deconstruction of practice (class 1 & 2); then rehearsal and coaching (class 3); then implementation & feedback (class 4); and lastly guided reflection (class 5).
Participants
4 participants, 2 from each university. These trainees were picked for being true novices, i.e. none had any previous teaching experience and were also picked because their foreign language matched the researchers.
Data Collection & Coding
Lesson videos recorded by each participant which they thought best represented each HLTP. The two tables below show each core practice with its descriptors. The researchers selected a 10-minute part of the videos that best highlighted the implementation of the teaching practice. Each descriptor was given a score on a scale from 1 (practice missing) to 2 (practice partially present) to 3 (practice fully present).

To illustrate the scoring, if a participant asked a follow-up question two times they would be given a score of 2 while a candidate who asked follow-up questions throughout the 10-min video sample would get a 3 score. The researchers compared scores and got an inter-rater reliability of 94% for I-TLC and 92% for questioning.

Data Analysis
Maximum score of 12 and minimum score of 4, so descriptors rated 9 or more labelled "proficient", between 6 and 8 labelled "partially proficient", 5 or lower rated "not proficient".
Results

I-TLC - An example of "proficient" was candidates use of visuals and props - all 4 trainees used Power-Points containing pictures and/or video. An example of "partially proficient" included clearly conveying lesson topic and objective before input. An example of "not proficient" was in use of examples to define new words.

Questioning - Trainees were rated "proficient" in for example in use of questions that utilize simple syntax, "partially proficient" in things such as use of follow-up questions to elicit elaborations and "not proficient" in for example natural reaction to students' responses.

Discussion
The authors conclude that some parts of practice develop faster than others. These parts were the ones that could be anticipated, planned and practiced before hand such as visuals in power-points. Whereas the teacher candidates were rated as "not proficient" on descriptors that were more context dependent such as responding naturally to students.

Limitations of the study include the fact that it did not assess the relative level of importance trainees may have given to the descriptors. So the participants may have considered use of visual props as more critical than use of examples to define new words. The authors point out that although the theoretical arguments from sociocultural theory are strong, research in HLTP is still at an early stage with a lot of work to be done.

The paper recommends that teacher educators could assign the practice descriptors according to two dimensions of difficulty and importance. Thus, for example, use of meaningful and purposeful context would be placed in the more difficult and more important quadrant whilst clearly conveying lesson topic and objective before input would be placed in the less difficult and less important quadrant. It is also crucial for teachers to understand the background knowledge of their students or what Daniel Willingham, 2017, calls the teacher's mental model of the learner.
So what?
Reading ELT Research Bites is fine as far as it goes but knowledge about teaching or reflection on teaching is no substitute for enacting teaching. That is, for us as teachers to rehearse core practices and bring them under our conscious control. The research on high-leverage teaching practices holds promise for partly bridging the research-practice divide.
References

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Another acronym rejoice! Yes, okay, all snark aside, the concepts behind this term are very interesting. High-Leverage Teaching Practices (HLTP) are also called high-leverage practices, core practices or simply practice. HLTPs are "teaching practices in which the proficient enactment by a teacher is likely to lead to comparatively large advances in student learning".

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Five Effective Tips for Going Global: Advice From a Teacher - Global Learning - Education Week

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Five Effective Tips for Going Global: Advice From a Teacher - Global Learning - Education Week

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Editor's Note: World language teachers often assume that because they are teaching a language, they don't have to explicitly include the study of culture and global competence. By guest blogger Danielle Chaussée Danielle Chaussée, Spanish teacher at Oconomowoc High School in Wisconsin, participated in the Teachers for Global Classrooms (TGC) Program (now the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program) and realized that she had only been scratching the surface of global education in her own classroom.
My own journey toward global competence began with a semester-long course through the TGC fellowship program, during which I had the opportunity to interact online with other educators around the nation. Throughout the course, I learned about resources like the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their focus on global issues such as the environment, poverty, and equality. I was also introduced to the Asia Society's global competencies, which include investigating the world, recognizing perspectives, communicating ideas, and taking action.

With these resources in hand, I realized that world-language instruction can include much more than just helping students learn about language and culture. It can be the catalyst for students to learn about global issues and take meaningful action on a deeper level. But where to begin?

Tip #1: Start small. Focus on something you can change now and do it.

One morning I walked into my classroom thinking about the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals and the global competencies. But, looking around me, I couldn't see them reflected in my classroom. My Spanish 4 class at that time was studying a unit on food and the students were about to investigate a traditional dish from a Spanish-speaking country. That task, which had been a part of the Spanish 4 curriculum for the previous 13 years, suddenly seemed to miss the mark.

The idea occurred to me that it would be much more meaningful if the students were to investigate a health issue related to food in a Spanish-speaking country instead. It was a simple shift of focus, which only required rewording the instructions on the investigation, but it resulted in rich conversations and a deeper understanding of global health. One unintended but beneficial outcome was that students also generated and shared their own vocabulary related to health.

In the case of my classroom, a shift in global focus began with simply changing an activity. In another educator's class, a first small step might involve posting the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the classroom to generate conversation. Whatever that first step, just take it, and the rest will start to fall into place. After finding success with that one change, I began to look for ways to incorporate changes into all the levels I teach.

Tip #2: Rethink how you can redesign an entire unit to include global education.

It is overwhelming to think about how you might change your entire curriculum, so break it down and start with one unit. In my case, I started with the food unit and I redesigned it to be focused on global health. To start, identify which state or national standards you want to address in your unit. Then, look at those standards through the lens of global education. How can a global perspective be integrated into those standards? Use resources like the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Asia Society's global leadership outcomes and rubrics as guides to help you identify both global and local connections to your standards. My guiding question when I plan a unit has now become "How am I preparing my students to be global citizens?"

Tip #3: Find your allies within your school and brainstorm ways that you can bring global education to the forefront.

Again, start small. Connect with colleagues within your own department or other departments, counselors, or an administrator. Start a conversation about what you already do in your own classrooms and develop a vision for what you would like to see down the road.

For me, the work started with a small group of colleagues as we worked on the idea of service learning in our Spanish department. Our service-learning circle quickly grew and then our numbers exploded when we brought the Wisconsin Global Education Achievement Certificate (GEAC) program to our school. Today we have a team of over 20 teachers, counselors, and administrators who are GEAC advisors and leaders of global education initiatives in our school.

Tip #4: Grow your coalition to the district level.

Identify and reach out to like-minded educators and administrators in other schools in your district. In my district, I was lucky to join and work with a district service learning team. Our team began with the vision of providing international service learning opportunities to middle and high school students. Over the course of a couple of years, and as the district's service learning vision grew, we expanded to include additional teachers at the middle and high school levels, while serving as the hub for local district service learning initiatives.

A word of caution: as visions develop and projects get underway, be ready to revisit original goals. These periodic check-ins are important to keep the team on the same page and on track. It's equally important to revisit the original plan to see if it needs revision. Our initial visions can often be limited by lack of experience or knowledge, and as your team's work progresses, you may lose sight of another, perhaps better, direction. Don't be afraid to take a step back and take stock of where you are. This is all part of the growth process.

Tip #5: Look for community partners.

They are out there and excited to come into your classroom! I went for years in my teaching career without reaching out to experts in the community who could bring their experience and knowledge into my classroom. I was hesitant to bring an unknown element into my school day and I feared I would be turned down. This year I decided to put my hesitations and fears aside and I started to seek out community partners, including guest speakers and experts who my students could partner with on projects.
Connect with Heather and the Center for Global Education on Twitter. Image of author teaching in Colombia as part of her TGC program taken by Diana Isabel Fernandez and used with permission. Quote image created on Pablo.
However, just because I resolved to do it, doesn't mean it was easy to start! I remember writing my first email to a potential guest speaker with some reservation. My husband asked me what the worst outcome could be, to which I replied that the potential speaker could say no. That's when my husband wisely said, "So what?"

The speaker happily agreed to appear and became the first in a series of guest speakers who have spoken to my students about topics such as literacy and water projects in Guatemala, the impact of natural disasters, sustainability in the supply chain, and microfinancing. My students have also begun to partner with a local organization to raise awareness about economic disparities and to assist with the group's work in Guatemala. By taking this small risk and learning to embrace the unknown, I discovered that the learning experiences for my students have become much more rewarding.

Going global does not happen overnight. It's easy to feel overwhelmed when you think about changing your curriculum, but even the smallest classroom changes will have an impact on your students' learning. By starting small and taking the process one step at a time, going global will connect your students to meaningful experiences that will ultimately help them develop as citizens of our interconnected world.

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Five Effective Tips for Going Global: Advice From a Teacher

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Editor's Note: World language teachers often assume that because they are teaching a language, they don't have to explicitly include the study of culture and global competence.

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ELTpics is the best source for Creative Commons images taken by teachers, and meant for teachers...

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WEEKLY MEMO, ARCHIVE, & FORUM CLICK HERE TO REGISTER AND SUBSCRIBE After you register for the forum, you have to go to PROFILE -> ACTIONS -> PAID SUBSCRIPTIONS

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Proficiency and Research-Based Proficiency Targets | Ohio Department of Education

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Proficiency and Research-Based Proficiency Targets | Ohio Department of Education

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Proficiency and Research-Based Proficiency Targets | Ohio Department of Education

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Señora Speedy: Get more time for your FLES program!

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Señora Speedy: Get more time for your FLES program!

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I often get questions about my schedule from other FLES teachers. It's funny that when I tell high school teachers how many students I have (520) and that I see them for 25 minutes every other day, I get looks of horror. But when I tell other FLES teachers the same they want to know how I got so lucky and what did I do to get that schedule. I didn't always have it so good...

Here's what my schedule has looked like over the last six years.

Year 1 - Spanish was in the Specials rotation and on a cart. I taught K-5 once every 6 days for 55 minutes. It was horrible. Students would forget what I had taught the last time I saw them. I didn't have a curriculum and I realized later that I was going too fast and expecting too much.

Year 2&3 - Spanish was still in the Specials rotation but I convinced my admins that it would be better for the students if I saw them twice in the 6 days. I switched with Library one year and Computer Lab the other. Halfway through the 55 minutes me and the other Special Area teacher would swap classes. A fourth grade teacher remarked that she could tell a difference in how much Spanish the students could speak after making this change.

Year 4&5 - We lost population and we switched from a 6 day rotation to a 5 day rotation. Someone needed to come out of the schedule. I begged my admins to please let it be me. My vice-principal told me to propose a schedule and she would consider it. I came up with a A/B schedule where I saw 2nd-5th grade for 25 minutes every other day and K-1st for 15 minutes every other day. I was on the cart for K-1.

Year 6 - I see everyone for 25 minutes every other day. I get an hour of plan during the instructional day on Day B and none on Day A so instead of doing morning duty I use that as my plan time instead, which I am happy with since I actually end up with a little extra time. Here's what it looks like today. You can see that I don't get any time between classes within a grade level so one class is leaving as another is coming but I do get 5 minutes between grades to reset and get ready.

1. If you are in a schedule like my first year where you only see your students once a week or less then work to convince your admins to let you switch with another class. I was lucky that my PE and Music teacher were already doing this so there was precedence at my school for this arrangement. If you don't have this at your school try starting with Music or PE. The motor skills that they teach in those classes also benefit from seeing the students more frequently. Art, STEM, and Library are not usually good candidates because getting out/putting up supplies and checkout takes up a lot of time and these teachers usually want the full time.

2. Take baby steps and educate your administrators on how proficiency works. I didn't go from once every 6 days to every other day. We worked up to that as my administrators saw my students improving in their Spanish proficiency. They saw how the increased frequency was working and were willing to give me more time.

3. Be flexible and creative. My A/B schedule would not have worked those first few years because we simply had too many students. When it did make sense I had to get creative and be willing to do 15 minutes on a cart with younger grades. It wasn't ideal but I made it work. In fact, I had a first grade teacher tell me I put them to shame with how much I got done in 15 minutes.

4. Be realistic . There's no way my current schedule would have worked those first few years because our school was so big that I didn't even get my own classroom until my third year. Only because of redistricting and an aging population in our district has allowed me to have more time. You have to do what works for your school and your population. I was also extremely lucky to have a supportive admin in charge of scheduling. If your admin isn't on board right away it might take more time to win them over.

5. Be flexible...like really really flexible. Yes, I said be flexible already but I'm saying it again because it's that important. Now that I'm out of the Specials rotation I have kids pulled out of my class ALL the time. We try our best to make sure everyone gets Spanish but some kids come late from intervention, some Special Ed kids don't come because they have to have so much time in the resource room, some get pulled on Thursdays and Fridays for gifted and talented. MAP testing sometimes conflicts with my class. I'm okay with all of this because I'd rather see most of the students every other day. Also it's not much worse than what I experienced when I was in the rotation. It's just the life of a FLES teacher.

6. Always be advocating for your program. You won't get more time if the admins, classroom teachers, and families don't love your program. Make sure your students' learning is visible. Put in the hallway, send it home, teach lessons that your students go home talking about, invite all stakeholders into your classroom.

7. Stay positive . Being a FLES teacher with large numbers of students and not a lot of contact time is hard but by staying positive I have been able to enact change at my school. Every year I think, "Wow! This is so awesome. It can't be better than this!" But then it gets better. And let's be honest any time in the target language is better than no time so keep that in your mind while you work to get MORE time.

So that's how I got to see my students every other day. And I'm chewing on an idea to see even more of my older students and maybe even the preschoolers at my school next year. How often do you see your students? What do you do to get more time with them? Share in the comments below!

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I often get questions about my schedule from other FLES teachers. It's funny that when I tell high school teachers how many students I have (520) and that I see them for 25 minutes every other day, I get looks of horror.

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Teaching Heritage Languages: An Online Workshop

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Teaching Heritage Languages: An Online Workshop

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Modules 1 and 2 are self-paced online tutorials that are designed for teachers of world and heritage languages. As you complete the first module, you will gain a better understanding of important differences between heritage language learners (HLLs) and foreign language learners (FLLs). In the second module, you will learn about strategies for working with heritage language students in the classroom. Module 3 focuses on issues that are language specific. For each language, you will hear a scholar discuss topics that s/he has found relevant and challenging in the teaching of that language to heritage language students. Further languages will be added at a later date.

For first-time visitors we recommend you go through the lessons sequentially.

Show All | Close All

Introduction

Rewards and Challenges of Studying Heritage Languages

Register

Sociolinguistics and Pragmatics

Avoiding the "It's Wrong!" Approach

Curriculum Recommendation: Use Oral Skills to Build Literacy

Use Oral Skills to Build Literacy (continued)

Use Oral Skills to Build Literacy (continued)

Conclusion

Learning Objectives

The "Macro" Approach for Heritage Learners

Heritage Learners and Proficiency Levels

Starting with the Learner

Using Authentic Materials to Build on Prior Knowledge

Criteria for Successful Projects

Examples of Project-Based Heritage Classes

Resources

Introduction

Red Card/Green Card

Knowing the Students

Pre-assessment Tools

Conclusion

Introduction

Fairness Issues in Assessing Heritage Language Learners

Formative Assessment Techniques

Summative Assessment

Conclusion

Introduction

Heterogeneous Classes and Differentiated Teaching

Accommodating Speakers of Non-standard Dialects

Characters and a Phonetic System: In Which Order Should They be Introduced?

Appropriate Textbooks and Teaching Materials

The Place of Grammar Teaching

Introduction

Heterogeneous Classes

Activity-Based Learning

Textbooks

Teaching Literacy Skills

Grammar Instruction

Introduction

Heterogeneous classes

Topics that Connect with Heritage Students' Experiences

Reading, Writing, and Text Cohesion

Teaching Grammar to Heritage Language Learners

Korean Popular Culture

Introduction

Background Information: Multilingualism in India

The Typical Profile of a Heritage Language Learner of Hindi

Student Backgrounds

Heterogeneous Classes

Strategies for Overcoming Student Heterogeneity

Materials

Topics and Themes that Connect with Heritage Student Experiences

Opportunities for Target Language Use

Teaching Literacy Skills

Teaching Grammar to Heritage Language Learners

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Teaching Heritage Languages: An Online Workshop

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An online workshop designed to help language teachers face the challenge of teaching heritage language students.

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Card Talk Card Talk comes from A Natural Approach to Stories: A Happier Way to Teach Languages by Ben Slavic and Tina Hargaden. This is a simple and fun way to begin engaging your students in the target language (TL) with comprehensible input (CI) on the first day of class. Best of all, it is st...

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Very short times with very young kids | Musicuentos

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Very short times with very young kids | Musicuentos

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When people ask me what I do, and I tell them, I always get an interesting response. After all, I suppose I am in kind of a unique situation - my primary responsibility is Spanish department head and Spanish teacher for advanced electives, but I do spend quite a few minutes a week teaching my little people, from preschool 3's through first grade. So I get the students at both ends of the spectrum. It's amazing how much they're different, but it's amazing how much they are alike!
Precious minutes
One of the great differences between my older and younger students is how much time I get to spend with them. With my preschool 3's and 4's, I see them for 15 minutes a week. With kindergarten and first grade, I get a whopping 20 minutes. That's it. Waste of time, you say? I've heard that before - and thought it myself. But as time goes by I am finding more and more that with targeted immersion, any amount of time can accomplish something. (See some encouraging success stories here and here.)

When I added my elementary responsibilities, it was for purely pragmatic reasons. We wanted to move our elementary teacher into spending more time with middle schoolers, and I needed to add enough hours in a week to be classified 'full-time' for the purpose of receiving a tuition cut. But all my training and experience is in high school. I have never been very good at talking to little people for educational purposes. My first year at my current school I dabbled in kindergarten and first grade, and looking back, it was a learning disaster. We all had a reasonable amount of fun, but they learned absolutely nothing.

So of course I turned to the place I always turn to, my PLN. Marcela Summerville @PreKLanguages sent me her phone number and told me to call her anytime. I did. And she gave me a 30-minute crash course in teaching language to young children, help that has been invaluable in ensuring my kids are actually taking something away from my precious minutes with them. Here's what I've learned.

My preschool teachers tell me the teacher before me would come in, explain what the Spanish word for a color or number was, and then give the kids a color sheet.

I cannot stress enough that unless you see elementary kids every day, you do not have time to waste with coloring sheets. If you must (and sometimes I do), leave them with the teachers to do later or send home with kids.
Immersion is the only way
Trying to explain Spanish to a preschooler is like trying to explain photosynthesis to a preschooler. You might get something through, but the best you'll do is prep for future understanding. Like, way in the future.

Speaking Spanish from the minute you walk in to the minute you walk out not only sets up students for comprehensible input, it also creates a "magic" environment. My kids spend a couple of months asking me why I "talk funny" and it takes them that long to discover I speak English.

Everyone knows children learn through singing. Choose fully Spanish, repetitious songs that reinforce something you're teaching. With my preschoolers we sing "Qué bonita bandera," "Buenos días," "Los pollitos," "En la granja de mi tío," and others. Albums I highly recommend are Fisher Price ABC and Cantemos todos juntos, De colores by José Luis-Orozco, and one of my favorites for kindergarten and up, Mi guitarrí by Joel Valle (for Calico Spanish)*.
Have a clear goal - and just one goal - maybe half a goal
I think my big mistake my first year playing with teaching elementary was that I really didn't have a goal, or maybe I had too many goals. I thought if I just told them a story (Very Hungry Caterpillar) week after week, they'd pick something up. What? I don't know, something.

Set your goals, and then sequence them. Divide them if you have to. In preschool my goals consist primarily of increasing comprehension and eliciting specific language, including colors, numbers 1-10, the answer to "how are you," some animal words, the answer to "cómo se llama," distinguishing niño and niña, and so on. On any given class day, my goal may be to get to the point in the story where I introduce something yellow, and then walk around the room identifying yellow things. That's it. No numbers. No blue. Just pointing to things and saying amarillo.
Tell a story
How do children acquire language? Parents talk to them. And lots of research says that the children with the most advanced language and literacy skills are the ones whose parents read to them.

It doesn't really matter what your story is, as long as it's 1) simple and 2) interesting. For preschool, our fall story is about a chick who takes a walk and meets some friends. In the spring we have a clown who lives in a circus. Kindergarten works with cats, mice, and other animals that go different places. First grade involves a group of animal friends including a turkey and a duck named Diego.

Whatever your story, stick with it. Start at the beginning with a detail and work with that detail (with a goal - is it a chick? the chick is yellow? singing Los Pollitos?) and then add a detail. Keep adding details as students are able to build the story with you. You must try this - at every level, storytelling is magic. Life is a narrative and our social minds crave it.

Children need to move. Sometimes people think my 15 minutes with little people is pure chaos, but it's not - it's carefully orchestrated movement and play. Children do not learn language by studying language. Children learn language by playing. Memory sticks all the better when they're walking around, making song motions, jumping to count, etc. Seriously, you know 3-year-olds aren't going to sit still anyway - you might as well use their movement.

Children thrive on routine and if they are in a classroom setting believe me, they know the routine. There are very few routine actions that I can't get them to understand in Spanish from the very beginning. Sit down, switch places with her, raise your hand, walk fast, walk slow, let's sing, come here, draw this, all of it is very easy for them to apprehend in the target language, particularly if you pattern your classes to take the most advantage of the routine.
Ask questions, expect responses
Aside from storytelling, the other way people primarily communicate with children, and that results in successful language acquisition (first or second), is questioning. Think about when you talk to a child - what's is your name? is that your Daddy? what is this animal? what does a cow say? do you like the cow? what is your favorite? We ask children questions incessantly. It's no different in second language acquisition. Do it the same way you do it with the first language - you know they don't understand the question, so offer answers, then give them the answers. When I ask my kids, "What color is the house?" they learn very quickly that I'm asking for the color and that my suggested answers - "is it yellow? is it green?" are all wrong. Then I offer the right answers and yes that is the color. Before too long they are listening for the right answer and answering yes and no with me.

Research shows that people need to hear or read a word in context many, many times before it becomes a part of their active vocabulary. When your time with students is as limited as mine is, that means you need intense patterned repetition. We do the same story in fall for preschool because they just need to hear it that many times. I don't have time to change the story. By the end, we will have talked about that little yellow chick every single week since the beginning of the semester. Sometimes I think they might get bored with it, and then I remind myself that I tell the story six times in two days, but each child only hears me 15 minutes per week. I can't bore them.

A little story about repetition: at the beginning of every class, we sing "Buenos días." After the song, I tell the kids, "Bravo, bravo" and we move into our story. For 4-year-old preschool graduation, the children sing this song as part of the ceremony. The music teacher this year told me that many of them, when the song ended, told themselves, "Bravo, bravo."

This year we had the first annual Kentucky World Language Showcase, an opportunity for students to prove their proficiency and show what they can do with language. For the regional showcase, we were able to enter elementary performances. I invited some of my 4-year-olds to come and help me "tell" the story. For me, to sit there and watch them help me tell this story, completely in Spanish, appropriately responding to questions they had never heard in English, this was proof that by taking full advantage of even short amounts of time with very young children, you can really accomplish something.
*full disclosure disclaimer - I do some consulting work for Calico, which has nothing to do with how awesome the Mi Guitarrí album is

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When people ask me what I do, and I tell them, I always get an interesting response. After all, I suppose I am in kind of a unique situation - my primary responsibility is Spanish department head and Spanish teacher for advanced electives, but I do spend quite a few minutes a week teaching my little people, from preschool 3's through first grade.

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5 things to consider when writing a CAN-DO statement | Creative Language Class

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5 things to consider when writing a CAN-DO statement | Creative Language Class

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5 things to consider when writing a CAN-DO statement

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CELTA / TEFL / TESL advice and materials on approaches, grammar, skills, lesson planning, concept checking, controlled practice, freer practice and more.

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Teach Grammar as Concepts in Meaningful Contexts in Language Learning | American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

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Teach Grammar as Concepts in Meaningful Contexts in Language Learning | American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

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What?

Grammar should be addressed within meaningful communicative contexts as one element of language proficiency. Instead of focusing on grammar rules and diagramming sentences, teachers should guide students towards an understanding of how grammar functions. Students learn how to use the form rather than memorized conjugations that may not be applicable across contexts.

Why?

Grammar is an important element of communication, but research shows that explicit teaching of grammar has little effect on people's language acquisition, comprehension, or writing abilities. Traditional approaches to grammar instruction that emphasize direct grammar instruction often encourage memorized, rehearsed use of language. Additionally, many methods do not require students to understand meaning in an authentic context, i.e., how grammar is actually used in communication. Thinking of grammar in terms of concepts, that is, what is the purpose of using a specific form, what is the meaning expressed through that form, will broaden learners' understanding and use of the target language.

Research on human memory tells us that language acquisition is dependent upon two kinds of long-term memory: procedural and declarative. Procedural memory shows what a learner acquires naturally with automatic processing, through repetition and practice, as evidenced by the learning of one's native language. Declarative memory is recollection of facts and information that a learner has acquired and stored explicitly. In order to be most effective, it is important that language development is stored in both memory systems; learners should be expected to learn grammar implicitly through target language use and explicitly through the discovery of grammatical rules through use in meaningful examples.

How?

Instruction should be in the target language using lessons that have functional goals and objectives.

During these task-based lessons, when there is a need to address a gap in knowledge in order for communication to occur, learners should explicitly explore grammatical forms guided by their teacher.

By searching for the correct form in an effort to speak, listen, read, or write effectively, a learner has a spontaneous need for a grammatical structure and is highly motivated to use the grammar in context immediately.

This exploration, discovery, and use of grammatical concepts leads to greater understanding of the function of language and therefore leads to increased communication.

Find Out More:

Adair-Hauck, B. (1993). A descriptive analysis of a whole language/guided participatory versus explicit teaching strategies in foreign language instruction. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Pittsburgh, PA.

Adair-Hauck, B., & Donato, R. (2002). The PACE model: A story-based approach to meaning and form for standards-based language learning. The French Review. 76, 265-296.

Davin, K., & Donato, R. (2013) Student collaboration and teacher‐directed classroom dynamic assessment: A complementary pairing. Foreign Language Annals, 46(1), 5-22.

Ellis, R. (2002). The place of grammar instruction in the second/foreign language curriculum. New perspectives on grammar teaching in second language classrooms, 17-34.

Glisan, E. (2015). Core Practices Webinars. Alexandria, VA: ACTFL. Access at: https://www.pathlms.com/actfl/courses/2074/video_presentations/23833

Krashen, S. (1981). Second language acquisition and second language learning. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Leow, R. P. (2009). Input enhancement and L2 grammatical development: What the research reveals. Conceptions of L2 grammar: Theoretical approaches and their application in the L2 classroom, 16-34.

Paradis, M. (2009) Declarative and procedural determinants of second languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Co.

VanPatten, B. (1996). Input processing and grammar instruction in second language acquisition. Greenwood Publishing Group.

VanPatten, B., & Cadierno, T. (1993). Input processing and second language acquisition: A role for instruction. The Modern Language Journal, 77(1), 45-57.

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Teach Grammar as Concepts in Meaningful Contexts in Language Learning

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What? Grammar should be addressed within meaningful communicative contexts as one element of language proficiency. Instead of focusing on grammar rules and diagramming sentences, teachers should guide students towards an understanding of how grammar functions. Students learn how to use the form rather than memorized conjugations that may not be applicable across contexts.

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Listening to stories for language acquisition – Cécile Lainé

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Listening to stories for language acquisition – Cécile Lainé

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This past school year, I taught two small groups of Elementary children. I had never taught this age group before so the learning curve was rather steep, especially since I only saw them once a week. I quickly noticed a few recurring themes:

But here is the big twist: as a CI/TPRS teacher, I am used to circling as a way to get in more repetitions of language structures. But both Elementary groups resisted circling: I could not get passed the yes/no or either/or stage without them losing interest. My lack of experience with this age group? Possibly. But consider this: my own 7-yo daughter will tell me very clearly "please keep reading maman!" at bedtime if I dare interrupt a good story with too many questions. For younger children, the story trumps anything else, especially if it is a good story. They don't want to "play school" by answering questions, no matter how sneaky you are 🙂

So, I have switched to Story-Listening, an approach developed by Dr. Mason. Each week, I select a folk tale, fairy tale, or any other children story. I base my choice on:

Student interest

Familiarity of the story or settings/characters

Natural repetition of language

I rewrite the story in a way that is comprehensible for the students but not necessarily 100% word-for-word transparent, in order to provide i+1. And then, I simply tell the story to my students, drawing on the board, gesturing, and making sound effects as I go. I may write a few words on the board too and use a quick translation. Read more about how to prepare for a Story-Listening lesson here.

Click on the image to watch the story

Listening has gotten such a bad rap in classrooms because often time it is associated with a "boring lecture". But if you teach or have children, you know what a good story will do to them! They are so engaged, they are truly listening. My daughter would feverishly listen to me reading Harry Potter until her bladder was ready to burst! Since I made the switch with my Elementary classroom, I am getting "ewww", "wows", "aaahhhs", and all kinds of cute reactions. Also, because there is no accountability (students don't have to answer questions), the Affective filter is the lowest I have ever seen.

So, will this lead to language acquisition? Well, Dr. Krashen's two main conditions for Language Acquisition are met: lots comprehensible input at i+1 AND low Affective filter. And Dr. Mason's research suggests that students acquire language at 0.15 word per minute (wpm) when Story-Listening is implemented in the classroom.

Want to give it a try? Here is a story-based lesson plan for you to try with your Novice learners:
* An editable story script for "La Petite Grenouille". Feel free to modify the script
to fit your students' needs.
* A video demonstrating how to tell this particular story using drawings, gestures, and sound effects in order to convey meaning.
* Accompanying PowerPoint materials, ready to print and use in class
* Suggested post listening activities

I will be posting more story-based lesson plan ideas. In the meantime, read more about Story-Listening, join the Story-Listening FB group and enjoy your summer!

Dr. Mason came to Tennessee to talk about her method. Here, she just finished doing a Story-Listening in English with lots of high frequency words.

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Listening to stories for language acquisition

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This past school year, I taught two small groups of Elementary children. I had never taught this age group before so the learning curve was rather steep, especially since I only saw them once a week. I quickly noticed a few recurring themes: Both groups loved TPR (Total Physical Response) Both groups loved creating story...

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Forget about your goals this year! | Path 2 Proficiency

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Forget about your goals this year! | Path 2 Proficiency

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"Should old acquaintances be forgotten, And never brought to mind?" ... it only takes this song and a couple of hours of reflection on the just-completed calendar year and our list of resolutions or goals for the new year is longer than the grocery list for Christmas dinner. Of course, it's easy to set goals and in our profession getting that winter break is like starting the school year all over again. We get to reset what happened in the fall. We get a second chance. And this time we're gonna get it right and here are all the goals that are going to help us make that happen. Slow down for just a second ... What if the idea of setting goals is the last thing you should be focusing on this time of year?

Forget About Setting Goals. Focus on This Instead.

Take a moment to read this insightful post shared with me by a good friend: Forget About Setting Goals. Focus on This Instead.

...

Did you click on the link and read the post? No. It's ok. Here are the main points James Clear is trying to make and that resonated with me from the world language educator perspective.

1. Goals reduce your current happiness. How often have you been given goals by a school administrator without much support to actually meeting the goal? How often have you set unreasonable goals for yourself and then held yourselves accountable? How often did you beat yourselves up when you didn't meet the goal? When we are setting goals, we put unnecessary stress on ourselves. James solution: Commit to a process, not a goal.
2. Goals are strangely at odds with long-term progress. As a runner, this one made a lot of sense to me. I used to train for half and full marathons using the race as the big goal line. Of course, as soon as the race was over, I stopped running until I found the next goal/race. How often do we set arbitrary goals and target dates (think state assessments) and as soon as we have completed them we fall back into our old habits? James solution: Release the need for immediate results.
3. Goals suggest that you can control things that you have no control over. This is a tough one for so many teachers as our current culture puts teachers in control in a room with a finite number of students for a finite number of minutes and it is easy to think that every one of our actions will trigger the right response. We can't forget all the factors that every person in that room brings with them that we cannot control but somehow impact the learning experiences. Think home life issues, poverty issues, technology issues, private issues, ... It's easy to feel like a failure when we aren't meeting our goals fast enough ... or ever, and yet we have so little control over the factors that impact learning more than the much-belabored lesson plan. James solution: Build feedback loops.

Clearly, goals aren't all as great as we thought and just reading over those three main points reminds me of many of the feelings teachers share with me all the time. Teaching is hard! Having goals, either given or identified by choice, can make it an almost impossible to enjoy our profession. Let's take some of those ideas and apply them to traditional world language teacher goals in order to find solutions that might actually help you during 2017!

Goal Focus: Using the Target Language 90% of the Time

For some time now our field is trying to figure out how to use more of the target language more of the time. It certainly was one of my goals earlier in my career. In fact, I wasn't even just trying for 90%, I was going for 100%. It was a goal of mine for eight (8!!!) straight semesters. And I failed because instead of focusing on the systems I needed to establish, I focused on the goal. Even the ACTFL's Position Statement from 2010 is being misinterpreted in support of goals instead of systems. Sure 90% is great. 90% would be amazing! However, it really isn't about that somewhat arbitrary goal. What is much more important, are the systems that you will put into place this semester that will help you and your students to use the target language more. ACTFL's position statement includes some important and yet often-overlooked systems-focused ideas. So, instead of counting up the minutes and being disappointed when you aren't hitting your goal, think about what systems you could put into place that will allow you to 1) provide comprehensible input that is directed toward communicative goals, 2) make meaning clear through body language, gestures, and visual support, 3) conduct comprehension checks to ensure understanding, 4) negotiate meaning with students and encourage negotiation among students, 5) encourage self-expression and spontaneous use of language; 6) teach students strategies for requesting clarification and assistance when faced with comprehension difficulties. And, no, don't try to do all of those things at once either. Pick one and begin to establish your systems for increased target language use. If you do that, you will hit your goal eventually. Just to get you started, watch this quick video that demonstrates what it could look like when some of those systems are in place and check out some of these resources. Solution: Focus on the systems and processes that you can put into place that will enable you and empower your students to use more target language.

Goal Focus: Finding or Creating the Perfect Rubric

With an ever-increasing focus on performance assessments, the need for effective rubrics is on the rise. I get asked about the perfect rubric all the time and I sure wish I had one that I could share. ( Not perfect, but I think this one is a good start.) Of course, finding or creating that rubric is once again the wrong goal. Let's remember the real purpose of any rubric. Effective rubrics aren't designed to make grading easier. Effective rubrics are designed to provide feedback to learners so that they can improve their performance over time. There isn't a perfect rubric and as long as teachers are required to attach grades to student performances, any rubric will have issues. Rubrics and teaching for proficiency just don't get along. Solution: Focus on systems and processes that you can put into place that allow that allow students to both receive and or provide for themselves and their peers feedback that will help them grow. And think about systems that you can use every day, not just after a performance assessment.

Goal Focus: Getting Rid of the Textbook

What an admirable goal. I spend a considerable amount of helping teachers develop curricula, thematic units, assessments, lesson plans so that they can make steps to move away from a textbook. I would love it if more teachers would do it and share that work so that we can all learn from each other, but here is the sad truth about that goal. The moment you are finished with writing those new units they are almost outdated as much as that textbook you were dreading so much. Replacing textbooks with curriculum shouldn't be your goal because let's be honest there is no perfect textbook and we are all textbook authors in our imaginary world. And yet, there is also no perfect curriculum. By the time you are done, you'll hate it. Trust me. I've been there and got the t-shirt. What is much more important, however, is the process of thinking about planning and learning. Solution: What systems are you putting into place that allow you to plan effectively for learning experiences? Now that planning effectively is a mouthful and means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. For now, my money is still on the behaviors outlined in the Planning domain of the Teacher Effectiveness for Language Learning Framework. Think about the types of changes you need to make to begin implementing some of those indicators in your work.

This, of course, is just the beginning of a long list of world language teacher goals. And I'm not a 100% opposed to setting goals, especially if you are using a system like the EPIC Growth Plan from the TELL Project. Just be sure that your focus isn't on the goals itself but the systems you will be putting into place to make sure that your new goals or ideas become forgotten plans. Make 2017 the year that changes in your teaching practices are long-term changes and not just short-term solutions and that will leave you empowered to meeting all those ambitious goals you set for yourself and your students.
Image Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/matthileo/5310943627/in/photolist-iN4itL-96iYvz

Thomas Sauer is the Director of Design and Communication for AdvanceLearning and an independent consultant. He previously held...

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"Should old acquaintances be forgotten, And never brought to mind?" ... it only takes this song and a couple of hours of reflection on the just-completed calendar year and our list of resolutions or goals for the new year is longer than the grocery list for Christmas dinner.

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Designed to support professional learning in STARTALK teacher development programs, professional development in STARTALK student programs, as well as independently by any language teacher, these resources address instructional topics found in STELLA modules and support the STARTALK-endorsed Principles for Effective Teaching and Learning and Characteristics of Effective Language Lessons. Topics addressed include: "Conducting Performance Assessments", "Developing Learning Targets", and "Checking for Understanding." The following resources support each instructional topic:

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Designed to support professional learning in STARTALK teacher development programs, professional development in STARTALK student programs, as well as independently by any language teacher, these resources address instructional topics found in STELLA modules and support the STARTALK-endorsed Principles for Effective Teaching and Learning and Characteristics of Effective Language Lessons.

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Qué son los DELE | Exámenes - Instituto Cervantes

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Qué son los DELE | Exámenes - Instituto Cervantes

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Qué son los DELE | Exámenes - Instituto Cervantes

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Los diplomas de español DELE son títulos oficiales acreditativos del grado de competencia y dominio del idioma español.

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Ask yourself this: how would you feel if someone from another country said that you didn't speak real English because you don't speak British English? Kind of preposterous, no? But people do have notions like this; that is, what is good language and what is the best version of a language.

As far as Spanish is concerned, there are varieties just like there are varieties of English. And even within a country, you will find different versions of the same dialect the same way you find, for example, native San Franciscans speaking differently from native Bronxers and from native Charlestonians. But there is no one "correct" or "real" Spanish. A good indication of this is that there are Nobel Prize winners for Literature from Spanish speaking countries, including Spain, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Guatemala, and Colombia.

And just in the same way that in Britain you might hear 'lift' (elevator), 'bonnet' (hood of a car), and 'biscuit' (cookie), you will hear different dialects of Spanish use different terms for some basic words (e.g., aguacate [Mexico] = palta [Chile]; guisantes [Spain] = chicharos [Mexico]' tú [Puerto Rico = vos [Argentina]). And, of course, there are variations in pronunciation and, in some cases, slight variations in grammatical properties. However, all Spanish speakers are proud to be citizens of their own cultures, so we really don't want to imply that any one Spanish is better than another. As you move from one Spanish class to another, you may meet instructors from various countries who use different varieties of Spanish-and all of them are excellent speakers of their language!

It is typical in language acquisition for comprehension to precede production. That is, understanding someone speak is almost always easier than speaking yourself. This is because of three things: (1) it takes a while for your mind/brain to build up enough language in it for use during production; (2) the mechanisms needed for production are different from the mechanisms used to comprehend someone else; and (3) you are able to use a lot more strategies in real time when trying to understand someone compared to what you can do when the pressure is on you to speak yourself. That is, you can fill in gaps and guess much more easily when comprehending someone than when speaking.

If you watch children learning a first language, the same is true for them: their ability to understand people around them far exceeds what they can say at a given time. As we've said before, speaking will emerge with time. Concentrate on trying to understand as much as possible when you hear Spanish. Listening (and reading, too!) will help you build up the linguistic system you will need later on for production.

This is a tricky question, because fluency is a relative term. Fluent for what purposes in what contexts? In our program, we have established the following "fluency goal" for two-years of Spanish (101-202): 33% of the students exiting 202 will be at the Intermediate-mid level of proficiency on the scale established by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Here is a brief description of what Intermediate-mid means:
Speakers at the Intermediate level are distinguished primarily by their ability to create with the language when talking about familiar topics related to their daily life. They are able to recombine learned material in order to express personal meaning. Intermediate-level speakers can ask simple questions and can handle a straightforward survival situation. They produce sentence-level language, ranging from discrete sentences to strings of sentences, typically in present time. Intermediate-level speakers are understood by interlocutors who are accustomed to dealing with non-native learners of the language.
The key terms here are "familiar topics" and "typically in present tense time." This means you can have a very basic conversation with someone and say, describe your family to that person, but you will not be able to read a literary work or give a formal presentation on how you arrived at MSU, for example.

What is more, Intermediate-mid speakers tend to be what is called "reactive." This means that they rely on the other person more to initiate and sustain the conversation. The idea is that Intermediate-mid speakers are fine with "sympathetic" other speakers who are used to non-native speakers of Spanish.

For more information on the nature of proficiency and levels, see the ACTFL website: http://actflproficiencyguidelines2012.org/speaking

You can certainly memorize words, use flashcards, write out words over and over, and do a variety of things to help you memorize words. These and other tricks are particularly good for short-term gains and for taking tests on vocabulary. But like all other parts of language, words are best learned in context. That is, words are best learned by hearing and reading them over and over in various sentences that are part of some kind of communicative intent.

Listening and reading are both particularly good for learning vocabulary. The more you read, the more you will encounter the same words repeatedly in communicative contexts. The same is true for listening. Again, there's nothing wrong with memorizing and practicing vocabulary-this could prime you for when you encounter words in context. That is, learning words may help you understand them when you encounter them in context. But in the end, you must be engaged with language as communication for you to acquire ability with language.

By now you know that Spanish has "masculine" and "feminine" nouns. Masculine nouns take el and los ( el libro/los libros) while feminine nouns take la and las ( la mochila/las mochilas). So, what is masculine about a book and what is feminine about a backpack? Absolutely nothing. These labels-masculine and feminine-are artifacts of the way ancients talked about language. Did you know that other languages have three or more genders? These categories aren't really genders, then, just groups of words. They could just as easily be called A words, B words, and C words, or Group 1, Group 2, and Group 3. Unfortunately, grammarians got stuck with the term "gender" and there you are!

By the way, your tendency in learning Spanish will be to "default" to masculine and overuse el and los, using these articles where la and las are required, and to also overuse masculine endings on adjectives. This is natural and something we see in second language research. The only way to get gender under control is to constantly hear and see words in context in which the "gender" is easy to map onto the word.

Spanish has verb endings for I, you, he/she, we, you all, and they for a simple reason: Spanish also allows "bare verbs" or sentences without explicit subjects. For example, you know that both yo hablo and hablo both mean 'I speak' and that both are grammatical. They may not be used in the same contexts, but they are both grammatical. There is a direct relationship, then, between verb endings in Spanish and the ability of Spanish to have sentences without subjects. The verb endings "take the place" of subject pronouns such as I, you, he/she, and so on.

This is quite different from English and French, for example. In English, only I speak is grammatical: speak, to mean the same thing, is simply not possible. And what does English lack? Verb endings. This is what's great about languages; they tend to balance themselves. If a language has X, is probably allows Y. If a language doesn't have X, it probably doesn't allow Y.

So, how do you get verb endings into your mind/brain? As you've heard from us before, after lots and lots of exposure to verbs in context. You can practice verb endings all you want, but only by hearing hablo, tomo, como, tengo, and other verbs in context over and over do they make their way into your language system. This is one reason why your on-line activities are all about hearing and reading language in context.

Actually, they don't. If you think about it, a child spends from birth until about four years of age doing nothing but language learning-for eight or more hours a day. That's quite a bit of time on task. It seems effortless to us because the child seems to do it without thinking about it. Children engage in play, eating, and just "existing" while simultaneously learning language. They really have nothing else to do with their lives. Adults, on the other hand, already have one if not more languages-as well as preoccupations other than eating and playing. Adults also like to have control over their environment as well as how they learn. And therein lies the tension. Language acquisition is not something you can force or control as you might with other kinds of learning; as with children, it's something that happens to you over time.

So, what is the optimal situation for language acquisition to happen to you? A combination of lots of exposure, a sympathetic environment, and motivation + patience. Remember: a child learning language takes four years, eight hours a day to get to a system that resembles what will be his or her native language. You'll need a "stick with it attitude" and lots of good interaction with Spanish; then you can sit back and be one of the millions of multilingual speakers around the world.

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Ask yourself this: how would you feel if someone from another country said that you didn't speak real English because you don't speak British English? Kind of preposterous, no? But people do have notions like this; that is, what is good language and what is the best version of a language.

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Emergency Kit for Landlocked Teachers: Virtual Conference-in-a-Box! - YouTube - YouTube

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Emergency Kit for Landlocked Teachers: Virtual Conference-in-a-Box! - YouTube - YouTube

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Emergency Kit for Landlocked Teachers: Virtual Conference-in-a-Box! - YouTube

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Sign in now to see your channels and recommendations!

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Blog | Nobody Expects the Spanish Acquisition! | A CI Teacher's Musings

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Blog | Nobody Expects the Spanish Acquisition! | A CI Teacher's Musings

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Keith Toda - Comprehensible Input (Part 2) - YouTube

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Keith Toda - Comprehensible Input (Part 2) - YouTube

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Keith Toda - Comprehensible Input (Part 2)

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Uploaded by Paideia Media on 2016-11-28.

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Keith Toda - Comprehensible Input (Part 2) - YouTube

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Keith Toda - Comprehensible Input (Part 2) - YouTube

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Keith Toda - Comprehensible Input (Part 2)

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Uploaded by Paideia Media on 2016-11-28.

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Musicuentos Black Box - YouTube - YouTube

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Musicuentos Black Box - YouTube - YouTube

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The 12th Musicuentos Black Box videocast is based on the following research article: Foreign Language Aptitude and Its Relationship with Grammar: A Critical Overview Applied Linguistics 2015: 36/3 ...

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Second Language Acquisition, Teaching and Learning

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The* call-in talk show with a touch of comedy for those interested in second language acquisition and language teaching. Hosted by Bill VanPatten and the Center for Language Teaching Advancement at Michigan State University.

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American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

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American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

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Enhancing and expanding multilingual and multicultural education worldwide

ACTFL is an individual membership organization of thousands of language educators and administrators from elementary through graduate education, as well as government and industry.

Respect and Recognition

Powering the future of language education

ACTFL's resources, backed by sound research and decades of experience ensure you have the tools to deliver successful instruction.

Assessments

Learn why ACTFL assessments are considered the gold standard for assessing performance and proficiency by institutions, companies, and governments.

Educator Resources

Explore ACTFL's Proficiency Guidelines, Can-Do Statements, and more to help guide your strategy and practice.

Access ACTFL Publications

Read The Language Educator (TLE), Foreign Language Annals (FLA), and ACTFL books to get timely information on WL education trends and technology.

Professional Development

ACTFL offers a variety of methods to advance professional development to help you, your school or district succeed.

Certifications

ACTFL offers a variety of training and certification programs designed to meet the needs of world language educators, researchers, and administrators.

Career Development

Mentoring, volunteering, and many other programs to support your career journey. From new teachers to seasoned professionals, we're here for you.

Language education provides tangible benefits. The research proves it.

Did you know that language learning boosts academic achievement, provides cognitive benefits and promotes positive attitudes and beliefs about other languages and cultures? See what the research says.

ACTFLearn Central

On-demand Courses

Your gateway to online on-demand professional development courses

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world language teaching; language assessment; foreign language teaching

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Enhancing and expanding multilingual and multicultural education worldwide

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Privacy| Non-discrimination | Equal Opportunity | Accessibility | Copyright | Login | The Pennsylvania State University © 2002-2016. All Rights Reserved.

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The National Network for Early Language Learning

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The National Network for Early Language Learning

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Do you share the NNELL mission? Become a member and receive the latest information, research, and articles from educators around the world. Already a member? Get more involved by joining a committee.

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The National Network for Early Language Learning

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Do you share the NNELL mission? Become a member and receive the latest information, research, and articles from educators around the world. Already a member? Get more involved by joining a committee.

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Keith Toda - Comprehensible Input Demonstration - YouTube

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Keith Toda - Comprehensible Input Demonstration - YouTube

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Keith Toda - Comprehensible Input Demonstration

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Uploaded by Paideia Media on 2016-11-28.

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Introducing a new series: Acquisition vs Learning – Conversations between a World Languages Teacher and Principal | French. Learning. Community.

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Introducing a new series: Acquisition vs Learning – Conversations between a World Languages Teacher and Principal | French. Learning. Community.

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Teaching for learning has preoccupied America's educators for quite some time. Gone are the days of teachers saying, "I taught it; they just didn't learn it." In an age of state testing and teacher accountability, this phrase seems antiquated and antagonistic. Today's teachers are in the business of individualizing their instruction, centering it around the learners in their classroom, and measuring results. Because of this focus on teaching for learning and student-centered instruction, much has been said and written about the most effective classroom practices that can achieve these lofty goals.

My own school, Chillicothe High School in Chillicothe, Ohio, is fortunate enough to be led by a tireless and competent principal, who prizes the successes of his students and teachers. He has high and unflinching expectations from his students and staff, but he couples these demands with virtually endless support and a dedication to remove any obstacles that might stand in our way. When he took the reins of CHS, his first principal post, he took command of a school that had the worst reputation in our area. It was notorious for violence, out-of-control students, apathy among students and staff, and low rates of success. In just a few years, he transformed this school into a true institution of learning. The students and staff work hard, and the results, both measurable and felt, are clear. CHS is a success story for educational leadership, earning him the title of Ohio's 2015 Principal of the Year. He is a champion for instructional practices that lead to student learning. He demands certain practices of his teachers, and he provides support to help instructors implement them. I am indeed very fortunate to work for not only a nationally recognized principal, but also a great man and friend, Jeffrey Fisher. There is no educator that I admire more than this man, and I am so pleased to announce that he will feature prominently in a series of posts over the next couple of weeks.

As the 2016-2017 school year approaches, I am beginning to focus on what I want my students to learn, and before I even finish the thought, I am hung up on the word learn. Learning may seem like an obvious word for teachers, but I am in an elite group of teachers - World Languages teachers (*pats self on back; allows time for WL teacher readers to do same). As a WL teacher, I am not emphasizing learning (although it is certainly present in my classroom). As a WL teacher, I strive to facilitate acquisition. This distinguishes me from science, math, and social studies teachers. I am mostly not trying to teach so that they learn new facts or knowledge. Rather, I teach so that they acquire a new way to communicate things that they already know, think, need, love, or dislike. I teach for acquisition over learning. It is this special feature of WL classrooms that will be the focus of this series of blog posts. In conversations with Jeff Fisher, we will work to discuss what learning and acquisition are, how they are different, and how teaching-for-learning practices can be optimized in an acquisition-based classroom. Stay tuned.

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Introducing a new series: Acquisition vs Learning - Conversations between a World Languages Teacher and Principal

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Teaching for learning has preoccupied America's educators for quite some time. Gone are the days of teachers saying, "I taught it; they just didn't learn it." In an age of state testing and teacher accountability, this phrase seems antiquated and antagonistic. Today's teachers are in the business of individualizing their instruction, centering it around the learners in...

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A Brief Description of Second Language Acquisition (PDF Download Available)

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A Brief Description of Second Language Acquisition (PDF Download Available)

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Señora Speedy: Proficiency Level Pyramid

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Señora Speedy: Proficiency Level Pyramid

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I have never done a really good job of explaining proficiency levels to my students. One of my goals this year was to make sure my kiddos understood the process of learning a language. I didn't want any of them to get frustrated because they couldn't speak Spanish fluently after a month.

The Chinese and Japanese teachers in our district have these awesome illustrations where students "climb" the Great Wall of China or Mount Fuji from novice low up to intermediate. But us Spanish teachers didn't have anything nearly as cool and culturally relevant. So this summer I decided to make a proficiency level pyramid using Chichen Izta in Mexico.

Get the large version here.

Get the half sheet student copies here.

Clip art by Phillip Martin - check out more great clip art here.

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I have never done a really good job of explaining proficiency levels to my students. One of my goals this year was to make sure my kiddos understood the process of learning a language. I didn't want any of them to get frustrated because they couldn't speak Spanish fluently after a month.

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Explaining Proficiency Levels to Students – Creative Language Class

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Explaining Proficiency Levels to Students – Creative Language Class

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Posted by Kara Parker on August 8, 2012 in 4 Assessments, First Days, Proficiency

This interactive activity by Sylvain F. (a former JCPS French teacher) will clearly explain proficiency levels to your students. I generally use this during the first week of school and it really sets the tone for the goals of the class. It is all about what you CAN do in the language!

Before class, print the cards. In level 1, you do not have to use the Intermediate Mid or High cards.

In class introduce the daily goal to students. I chose this goal because they have to understand the levels before they can set their own.

Create 4 groups of students or more if you use all the cards. Give each group one piece of large paper and one card with a proficiency sub-level (Novice Low, Novice Mid, Novice High, & Intermediate Low). If you have a large class, you may want to create two groups for each task. Show them the "assessment." Personalize it! You can change "your school" to anything you want that they are talking about now: state fair, circus, taco, a current pop band, a yummy candy bar, etc.

Students follow the instructions on the card and write it on the paper. Each group presents to the class, and then puts it on the wall. After the groups present, you can explain how the proficiency levels correspond to the text types they heard from each group. We talk about what I expect them to be able to do by the end of the semester. This sample picture is from Kim W.'s classroom about the circus.

After the explanation, you can have the students describe what proficiency means in their own words or set their own words. I will keep these up for awhile as a reference. Hopefully students will have a clear understanding (and maybe some relief!) of the class expectations.

You can download these proficiency cards now... they really help students understand your expectations and what each step of language growth looks like along the way. (Perfect for Back to School open houses or parent night, too!)
How will you explain the proficiency levels to your students?
Tags: first day, first week, proficiency levels, setting goals

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Explaining Proficiency Levels to Students

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Posted by Kara Parker on August 8, 2012 in 4 Assessments, First Days, Proficiency This interactive activity by Sylvain F. (a former JCPS French teacher) will clearly explain proficiency levels to your students. I generally use this during the first week of school and it really sets the tone for the goals of the class.

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NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements | American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

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NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements | American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

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How the NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements are organized

Aligned with the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2012 and the ACTFL Performance Descriptors for Language Learners the Can-Do Statements reflect the continuum of growth in communication skills through the Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Superior, and Distinguished levels.

The NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements for Intercultural Communication and the Reflection Tool for Learners provide a set of examples and scenarios that show how learners use the target language and knowledge of culture to demonstrate their Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC).

Just as the NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements for language clarify the Communication standards in the World Readiness Standards, this tool is intended to clarify and support the Cultures standards (use the language to investigate, explain, and reflect on the relationship between the practices or products and perspectives of cultures) and lead learners toward developing ICC. For the purpose of this document, ICC refers to the ability to interact effectively and appropriately with people from other language and cultural backgrounds. ICC develops as the result of a process of intentional goal-setting and self- reflection around language and culture and involves attitudinal changes toward one's own and other cultures. Intercultural communicative competence is essential for establishing effective, positive relationships across cultural boundaries, required in a global society.

Image Resource: How the NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements are organized

Benchmarks, Indicators and Examples are color-coded for ease of use.

Novice-BLUE | Intermediate-GREEN | Advanced-ORANGE | Superior-GOLD | Distinguished-GRAY

How Stakeholders Use the Can-Do Statements
THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND RESEARCH THAT SUPPORT THE NCSSFL-ACTFL CAN-DO STATEMENTS

Too often, learners are seen as subjects of assessment, not users of assessments. To become the primary users of assessment information, learners must make what they learn part of themselves. One important means of involving learners in their learning process is having them participate in a goal-setting process to monitor their progress to determine how well they accomplish their learning targets. Learning goals form the foundation for motivation in an instructional setting and for where working memory is being allocated. Motivation is critical to learning because "without sufficient motivation, even the brightest learners are unlikely to persist long enough to attain any really useful language" (Dörnyei, 2010, p. 74). It is vital to understand the motivation to promote learner autonomy which is key to continuing language learning beyond the classroom.

Learning targets, expressed in Can-Do Statements, provide an important venue for setting learning goals to provide language learners the opportunity to take responsibility for their own learning through the establishment of positive short-and long-term learning goals and to monitor their learning experiences to ensure the accomplishment of these goals. SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) goals, such as the Can-Do Statements, provide a clear direction to focus learners' language learning efforts to help them meet these goals. Such a constructivist or sociocultural worldview regards learning as an ongoing process where learners are continually involved in self-assessment and self-reflection about their own learning, ultimately aimed at developing self-regulation and self-efficacy.

The impact on learners and learner achievement of Can-Do Statements, as evidenced in LinguaFolio® (LF®) and its European predecessor, the European Language Portfolio (ELP), has been investigated through a growing body of research. LinguaFolio® was designed to help language educators develop autonomous learning and learner empowerment. Research at the classroom level has revealed that goal setting, which is at the heart of LF® and ELP, promotes self-regulated learning, increases language and academic achievement, enhances motivation and task value, and improves self-assessment when implemented regularly and frequently (Burton & Swain, 2014; Ciesielkiewicz & Coca, 2013; Little, 2009; Little, 2003; Little, Goullier, & Hughes, 2011; Moeller, Theiler, & Wu, 2012; Ziegler, 2014; Ziegler & Moeller, 2012; Clarke, 2013; Moeller & Yu, 2015). Learners who experienced LF® as an intervention in the world language classroom achieved higher academic outcomes as measured by cumulative GPA and ACT scores in math, science, reading, and English compared to students who were not exposed to LF® (Clarke, 2013).

These studies have shown that the major components of setting goals, documenting progress, and self-assessment of learning are critical in developing learner autonomy and self-regulation in language learners that contribute to increased motivation, higher language achievement, and academic success.

References

Burton, B., & Swain, M. (2014, August) Student Success with LinguaFolio®. Presentation at the Growing Success for ELLs conference in Greensboro, NC.

Ciesielkiewicz, M., & Coca, D. (2013) The electronic language portfolio as a tool for lifelong learning. In International Conference ICT for Language Learning: Conference Proceedings. Florence, Italy: Libreria Universitaria.

Clarke, O. (2013) LinguaFolio® goal setting intervention and academic achievement: Increasing student capacity for self-regulated learning. Retrieved from ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI3604640

Dörnyei, Z. (2010) Researching motivation: From integrativeness to the ideal L2 self. In Hunston, S., & Oakey, D. (Eds). Introducing applied linguistics: Concepts and skills, (pp. 74-83). London: Routledge.

Little, D. (2009) Language learner autonomy and the European Language Portfolio: Two L2 English examples. Language Teaching, 42(2), 222-233.

Little, D. (Ed.) (2003) The European language portfolio in use: Nine examples. Strasbourg, France: Council of Europe. Available from www.coe.int/portfolio.

Little, D., Goullier, F. & Hughes, G. (2011) The European Language Portfolio: the story so far (1991-2011). Strasbourg, France: Council of Europe. Available from www.coe.int

Moeller, A., Theiler, J., & Wu, C. (2012) Goal setting and student achievement: A longitudinal study. The Modern Language Journal, 96, 153-169.

Moeller, A., & Yu, F. (2015) NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do statements: An effective tool for improving language learning within and outside the classroom. In P. Swanson (Eds.), Dimension 2015 (pp. 50-69). Decatur, GA: SCOLT

Ziegler, N. (2014) Fostering self-regulated learning through the European Language Portfolio: An intervention mixed methods study. The Modern Language Journal, 98(4), 921-936.

Ziegler, N., & Moeller, A. (2012) Increasing self-regulated learning through the LinguaFolio®. Foreign Language Annals, 45(3), 330-348.

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Aligned with the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2012 and the ACTFL Performance Descriptors for Language Learners the Can-Do Statements reflect the continuum of growth in communication skills through the Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Superior, and Distinguished levels.

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Spanish Preschool Activities - Spanish Playground

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Spanish Preschool Activities - Spanish Playground

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Teaching preschool Spanish is wonderful! Preschoolers are active, curious little people ready to play and learn. However, many teachers contact me with questions about how to teach this age group. It can be hard to know where to start, so I'm sharing some of my favorite Spanish preschool activities.

These are Spanish preschool activities that you can adapt to any theme. Of course, I do other theme-related activities too, including songs, games, and art. For examples, see these preschool Spanish mouse activities and read Tips for Using Themes for Spanish for more information.

Objectives of Spanish Preschool Activities

My goal with these Spanish preschool activities is to build comprehension of useful vocabulary and help kids become comfortable producing the sounds of the language. Just as important, I want to instill confidence and a love of language learning.

I design my favorite preschool Spanish activities so students hear and understand lots of Spanish. In addition, these games are quick, and many of them are hands-on. Read more about the components of a preschool Spanish lesson.

10 Spanish Preschool Activities for Basic Language

¿Dónde está? and Vocabulary

My youngest students understand ¿Dónde está? after their first class, and I continually reinforce it with these Spanish preschool activities.

Around the room

I tell the kids to close their eyes (but it doesn't matter if they don't). Then, I place an object somewhere in the room where everyone can see it. The object can be anything that fits our theme, such as a beanie-type animal, an apple, a mini-pumpkin, a paper flower, etc. When the students open their eyes, I ask "¿Dónde está (el gato/la flor)?" They point to the object when they see it as I repeat the question several times. Then, I say " Sí, allí está el gato," sweep in to pick it up and do it again. I use one object several times, then another.

If we are reviewing and the students know the vocabulary, I place three objects around the room at a time. Depending on the group, I also have students retrieve the objects and bring them to me as I ask " ¿Dónde está el gato? ¿Me lo puedes traer?"

Under a cloth

I use identical clothes, such as cloth napkins or dish towels, for this hiding game. Under one cloth, in my hand, I have a small object or a picture card. I mix them up behind my back and set them in front of me. Then I ask " ¿Dónde está (el gato)?" A student lifts up one napkin. If she guesses wrong, she just lifts the other napkin and I say " Allí está en gato! " It all happens fast, so choosing "wrong" doesn't matter. My students love this game.

In our hands

I use counters for this game, but any small object works. I demonstrate how I hide one in my hand and then put my hands behind my back and transfer the object between hands. Then I put out both closed fists and ask " ¿Dónde está el oso?". A student chooses and I open that hand. Again, if she guesses wrong and the hand is empty, she just points to the other hand and I say " Sí, allí está el gato."

After I have modeled this game, students can play it with a partner. I give them both counters so they can play continuously. As they play, I keep saying " ¿Dónde está el oso?" so even if students are not repeating the question, they are hearing it and guessing.

You can do any of these Spanish preschool activities to practice ¿Dónde está? and vocabulary from many different themes.

Spanish Preschool Activities with Gracias

This is one of my favorite Spanish preschool activities to practice gracias, and kids think it is silly and fun. I give all the students a beanie-type animal. They stand facing each other and trade animals, more or less at the same time, over and over. As they do, they say gracias, gracias, gracias each time. Once they get the hang of it, I say " más rápido" and they try to trade faster and keep saying gracias. I also do a version where the students freeze when I call out " ¡de nada!" and start when I say " gracias" again.

New Vocabulary with Syllables

As much as possible, I do Spanish preschool activities for new vocabulary with something students can hold. If possible, I use objects such as plastic or stuffed toys or paper figures, like the cats below. If necessary, I use picture cards. The cats are from Krokotak, and I use lots of their fun printable figures.

First, I show the object or picture and use the word in context repeatedly so that students have the opportunity to hear and understand it.

Then, when I ask students to say a new word, I break it into syllables, and we connect it to actions. We clap the syllables and say them. Then we say it tapping the picture or object for each syllable. We turn it over and tap and say the syllables. We pass the picture or object from hand to hand, and lift it up over our heads and down with each syllable.

By the time we have done all the motions, they have associated the word with its meaning and their pronunciation is accurate.

Spanish Preschool Activities with Dynamics and Expression

Some of my preschool Spanish activities depend on dramatics to get in repetition of vocabulary and practice pronunciation. As much as possible, I create a small scenario so kids hear additional comprehensible language.

For example, if we are learning about arañas, I will put a toy or a paper spider on the table and mime that it is sleeping (finger to mouth to be quiet, hands beneath head turned to the side) as I say "Está durmiendo." Then, I whisper " araña" and gesture that students should repeat. We say it softly together and I gesture for them to get louder and louder, as I say it more and more loudly. When they are saying it really loudly, the spider "wakes up" - in other words, I make it jump in the air and land on my shoulder. ¡La araña se despertó! This "waking up" works with any "living" creature.

For food, I do the same thing. I put object or picture on the table and stand away. I rub my tummy and say " Tengo hambre." I reach toward it saying, for example, manzana quietly. The idea is that I want the apple. Then, I whisper manzana and gesture for students to repeat with me. We say it softly together and I gesture for them to get louder and louder with me. When they are saying it really loudly, I pick up the apple and pretend to eat it.

I also place animals at a distance. We call the animal together, first softly and then louder and louder, until it "comes" to us. You can create any number of little scenarios like this.

You can also use expression, like happy and sad voices, for vocabulary and phrases. Show a picture of a happy face and sad face, or act them out very dramatically, until they know the words feliz and triste). You can say words in different voices by showing pictures and using phrases like " como un monstruo" and " como un ratón ".

Spanish Preschool Activities for Counting and ¿Cuántos hay?

I ask ¿Cuántos hay? several times during class and we count a lot. I count as I hand things out, and as I pick things up. I combine the question with a noun as much as possible: ¿Cuántos osos hay?

One of the easiest preschool Spanish activities is to count the students. You can touch them on the head as you all count together, or you can have them stand (or sit) if you like.

Another easy counting activity is to place beanies around the room, and ask kids to help you collect them. For example, you put out 8 beanies, and then choose 8 children to get them. Tell students they can only bring back one animal. Students can line the toys up on the table as they retrieve them and the group can count them together. You can do this twice for larger groups.

Movement Songs as Spanish Preschool Activities

Some of my students' favorite preschool Spanish activities are action verbs with songs. Read Spanish Movement Songs: First Verbs to hear my go-to songs for preschool groups.

With these songs, students learn marcha, baila, corre, gira, camina, salta, etc. Of course, we learn one of these songs at a time! The first few times, I say the verbs and model the actions before the song. Then, they watch me and do the same actions as we listen and sing. They learn these fun verbs in no time!

Move the Animals

This activity reinforces the action verbs in the movement songs I mentioned above, but the students are sitting down for this activity. I give them all beanies and we move the animals as I say the verbs. For example, I'll say salta, and they make their animals jump. I say baila and our animals all dance.

I actually sing parts of some of the songs as we do this. For example, Marcha by Singalingo has lines like Camina, camina. Camina muy lento. Corre, corre, corre. Corre muy rápido. and Salta, salta, salta. Salta muy alto. I sing as we move the animal, and kids soon start to sing along. Once students know the verbs, I'll ask them what action the animals should do and they will call out different actions.

¿Es .... o....? Choice Question in a Box

I like Spanish preschool activities that I can use with lots of different vocabulary. This one is a game where students draw something out of a box or bag and say what it is. However, everything in the box represents the same 2 or 3 words, so I as they draw, I ask, for example, " ¿Es un caballo o una vaca?".

I have lots of toy animals, so I can put in 5 horses and 5 cows, or I use picture cards. All the horses do not have to be identical, in fact it is more interesting if they are different! Of course, I am asking the same choice question over and over, and each time a child takes one out we say " ¡Es un caballo!" or whatever.

I have students hold onto the picture card or object until everyone has a chance. Then I ask, " ¿Dónde están los caballos?" or " ¿Quién tiene un caballo?" and they hold them up. Afterward we count each of the animals. Again, I like this game because I can do it with any two words just by making picture cards.

Spanish Preschool Activities with Gustar

This activity is always a hit, and I love the enthusiasm students put into calling out me gusta and no me gusta. I assemble objects in a bag and pull them out one at a time to show the class. Each time I ask " ¿Te gusta o no te gusta?" and they answer chorally. Then I pass the object around the circle and ask again " ¿Te gusta o no te gusta?". They each answer " Me gusta." or " No me gusta." I also teach Me gusta mucho, depending on the group.

The key to this activity is to choose things that kids feel strongly about, and to use objects instead of pictures whenever possible. I use things like a toy horse, a toy kitten, an apple, an onion, a green pepper, mustard, cheese, a toy spider, a toy snake, a small bottle of milk, a carrot, etc.

Coloring sheets for TPR

I use coloring sheets as Spanish preschool activities to reinforce vocabulary. These are not art projects. I choose or make them to correspond to the language we are learning. They are not creative activities, and we don't always color them during class. Rather, we point to the pictures as we talk about them. For example, with the coloring sheet below, I ask " ¿Dónde está el gato? ¿Dónde está el perro?, ¿Dónde está el árbol?". I also ask " ¿Cuántas manzanas hay en el árbol?" and we count together. You can make a picture using clip art to support whatever vocabulary you are teaching.

Spanish preschool activities do not have to be complicated, but they do need to create comprehensible input so that children build useful vocabularies. Short, high-interest Spanish preschool activities hold student attention and ensure kids are having fun. What are your favorite Spanish preschool activities? Please share your ideas in the comments below!

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Spanish Preschool Activities - Spanish Playground

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Teaching preschool Spanish is wonderful! Preschoolers are active, curious little people ready to play and learn. However, many teachers contact me with questions about how to teach this age group. It can be hard to know where to start, so I'm sharing some of my favorite Spanish preschool activities.

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PBL in the TL: #ACTFL17 Self-Centered PBL for Novices

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PBL in the TL: #ACTFL17 Self-Centered PBL for Novices

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There are very few PBL units that I could package and recommend to pretty much anyone. So many, like the product pitch and visitor videos, are heavily dependent on my colleagues and context. But there is one topic that is perfect for both teenagers and novices:

Themselves.
What luck that teenagers love talking about the very thing that novices are supposed to talk about!

Now I usually do this unit at the beginning of Spanish II (once I tried it at the end, and my kids felt cheated that we didn't start with it--they would have done so much better the rest of the semester, they said!), but this could work with almost any group with everyone performing at least at the Novice Mid level. I tried it in my online Spanish III class, and if the product pitch project weren't so ingrained in the very culture of our school, I totally would work it into Spanish I in time for New Year's resolution making too.

So here is my best effort at sorting out how you can set up this popular unit in your own class.

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There are very few PBL units that I could package and recommend to pretty much anyone. So many, like the product pitch and visitor videos, are heavily dependent on my colleagues and context. But there is one topic that is perfect for both teenagers and novices: Themselves.

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YAYYYY! No more ¿cómo se dice? – La Maestra Loca

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YAYYYY! No more ¿cómo se dice? – La Maestra Loca

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I am finally to my favorite part of the year!

We have removed the phrase "¿cómo se dice?" (how do you say?) from ALL of my classes!

In my opinion, the most valuable skill I teach my students, is that of circumlocution. It is my favorite word. ALL of my students know the word in both English and Spanish and they can define it for you too! When I taught elementary, even my youngest learners knew the word and what it meant. The ability to use whatever language you know to make meaning and communicate about what you don't know is such an important skill!

I start introducing circumlocution early in the year. When a student asks me "¿cómo se dice _________ en español? for a word that I know we can communicate about in another way, I stop and explain circumlocution in English. I grab one of my small unicorns (yes, even in high school) and I stick him/her/they in my pocket.

I say:

"You guys, as much as I want to, I won't be able to travel with you to all of the amazing countries you are going to visit to use your Spanish, nor will I be with you when you run into a Spanish speaker in a store who needs help and they don't speak ANY English at all. Unfortunately, nobody has invented a shrinking machine yet so I can't just become mini-maestra and fit in your pocket [remove the unicorn from my dress pocket]. You won't be able to pull me out and say [model whispering in my unicorn's ear] "hey, Maestra ¿cómo se dice 'I want one of those red chickens' en español?" So instead, let's figure out a way using the language WE KNOW to say that sentence! (a child was talking about my toy red chicken once in class so this is a real example).

The first part is easy, how do you say I want in Spanish? (Then I count to three to give ALL of my students processing time to think about the question I just asked)

They say "YO QUIERO" (some say yo quiere and that is TOTALLY fine because they are making meaning and communicating!!!!)

Then I say "YAYYYYYY! Sí, YO QUIERO! (modeling it correctly again, giving more input) Now, close your eyes! NO PEEKING! (don't forget to use the white lie about teachers taking a "peeking" course in college). Now, using the language you KNOW, how can we say a red chicken?, think think think, and when you have an idea, keep your eyes closed and raise your hand QUIETLY so the person next to you can't hear." Slowly, one by one, my student's raise their hands. The first few times it is only half the class but after the 3rd time of modeling circumlocution I can get about 90% of the class with their hands up! The QUIET hands is intentional! I don't want students to feel bad if they hear hands going up all around them. I don't want them focused on that but rather trying to think of their OWN way to circumlocute.

Then I have students open their eyes and I call on one of my mid-range kids (not high achieving and not a barometer student) to tell me how THEY would say red chicken. They say "un animal rojo y pequeño". I give them TONS of praise and a high-five. Then I call on a high- achieving student and I ask them how they would say it, they say "un animal rojo que dice cluck cluck". Tons of praise follows and a high five! Finally, I call on one of my lower students who had their hand up (usually one of my confident and silly class clowns) who naturally proceeds to stand up and walk around their seat clucking and flapping their arms like a chicken and then they point to the color red. I give the same awesome praise and high-five as their peers roar with laughter.

Finally, I give them lots of points for their awesome team work in circumlocuting and I write the word "gallina" (chicken) up on the board. I tell them that ALL of those were perfect ways to make meaning and communicate about words they DON'T know using words that they DO! I explain that THAT is the definition of circumlocution.

In mid-October, for my newest classes, I take away my ¿cómo se dice? poster. I am the only person allowed to use that phrase anymore (for comprehension checks and formative assessments). I still allow 2-3 "out of bounds" vocabulary words per class and those get written on our board, but I don't allow kids to ask me that question anymore. Instead, when they have that urge, I ask them to ask the class for help and together we circumlocute. My advanced classes have amazing circumlocution skills. This ability to negotiate meaning and communicate gives them so much confidence and allows them to more comfortably use Spanish outside of my class with people other than just me or their peers inside the comfort of our class. It is remarkable and inspiring! They impress me and make me laugh every single day!

One of my favorites of all time was when a student was trying to say taste and she confidently said, in Spanish, "its when you eat and you smell with your tongue and you think it is delicious". Precious! Posters like this are great to have in your room. There are lots out there. I don't have a picture of mine that I made, but I will try and post it here later when I get home. Sentence starters like "it is the thing that you need for __________" or "it is the place where you do _________" or "the person who makes ____________" or "it is made of ___________" (obviously in the Target Language) are good to have on a poster to train students HOW to circumlocute! 🙂

I hope that each of you experiment with circumlocution in your own classes!!! You'll be amazed at what your students can do!

Until next time,

HAPPY TEACHING!

Love,

La Maestra Loca

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I am finally to my favorite part of the year! We have removed the phrase "¿cómo se dice?" (how do you say?) from ALL of my classes! In my opinion, the most valuable skill I teach my students, is that of circumlocution. It is my favorite word.

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AP Themes Aren’t Just for AP Classes… Introduce Them Early – Creative Language Class

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AP Themes Aren’t Just for AP Classes… Introduce Them Early – Creative Language Class

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Posted by Megan Smith on November 6, 2017 in 2 Authentic Resources, AP Themes, Culture

The AP themes for teaching World Languages are BIG. If you're not familiar with them, here they are:

Even in one individual theme, there are a million different ideas, resources, and paths to take when planning. Covering it all can be a little overwhelming for AP teachers and it's definitely a lot for students to digest at one time. How do you teach everything a student might need/want to know about technology or global challenges in one unit? They could probably each be a year long curriculum!

Instead of a total focus on an individual AP theme in one specific unit or in one specific level... what if a touch was added to all our thematic units? If all WL teachers (even level 1) teamed up to incorporate the AP themes in their units some powerful things would happen:

- students would know a lot more about our world

- our classes would better connect with other content areas

- our units would feel more authentic

Here are some examples of how to touch on AP themes naturally in units that you're already teaching!

The Germen Crew

If you've been to one of our lesson/unit planning workshops lately, you've seen this authentic resource. I love this story and it inspired me to create a whole unit on street art. Basically, it shows how this team of Mexican street artists united the neighborhood of Las Palmitas and brought down youth violence by collaborating with locals on the largest macromural in Mexico.
UNIT: ART (street art)AP THEMES: FAMILY AND COMMUNITIES, GLOBAL CHALLENGES (youth violence), BEAUTY & AESTHETICS
Read more here:

https://www.widewalls.ch/germen-crew-street-art-public-art-mexico/ (English)

https://hipertextual.com/2015/07/macromural-palmitas-mexico (Spanish)

"The Prophecy"

Recycled art is a a contemporary way to approach the sometimes formal art unit. Fabrice Monteiro is a Belgian-Benenise photographer who teamed up with Doulsy - a Senegalese costume designer who creates most of his outfits from trash. They created a series of photos that show the serious environmental issues facing Senegal. They say they may not be able to change things right away but these pictures can bring awareness and get people talking.
UNIT: ART (recycled art)AP THEMES: GLOBAL CHALLENGES (pollution/enviroment), BEAUTY AND AESTHETICS (photos)
Read more here:

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2017/jun/16/gods-of-garbage-fabrice-monteiro-the-prophecy-polluted-environment-in-pictures (English)

Berlin Wall

The 103 mile wall that separated East and West Berlin showed the extreme difference of freedoms among the two sides. However, graffiti on the wall started a movement and after the fall of the wall in 1989 both sides were able to take part in this artistic expression of freedom. What messages were people sending through their art? What do the images say?
UNIT: ART (graffiti)AP THEMES: GLOBAL CHALLENGES, CONTEMPORY LIFE
Read more here:

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2014/apr/03/thierry-noir-graffiti-berlin-wall (English)

Landfill Harmonic

This video shows how one man introduced the love of music to a unlikely group of kids... some of the poorest children in Paraguay. These kids live in a landfill, and their families work recycling and selling garbage they find there. Most could never even afford an instrument and had no dream of being in an orchestra. However, with a little help, they learn to build their own instruments out of waste and make beautiful music!
UNIT: MUSIC (classical music), ACTIVITIES (What do you like to do?)AP THEMES: GLOBAL CHALLENGES (poverty), CONTEMPORARY LIFE (life in a landfill)
Read more here:

http://www.landfillharmonicmovie.com (English website - video is in Spanish)

Celia - La serie de Telemundo

This little clip from Telemundo's series Celia shows the superstar before she got her big break. It also shows glimpes of racism and inequality when she's not allowed to participate in the Cuban radio station's music competition. She sings backup as her sister tries to win them over, but they can't ignore her talent. The road to success isn't always easy!
UNIT: MUSIC (Salsa)AP THEMES: GLOBAL CHALLENGES (Racism), PUBLIC IDENTITIES (Celia Cruz)
Read more here:

http://www.telemundo.com/novelas/celia (Spanish)

http://www.proceso.com.mx/458952/se-estrena-en-mexico-serie-de-telemundo-sobre-la-vida-de-celia-cruz (Spanish)
Moral of the stor(ies): You can touch on one or more AP themes in every unit and in every level. They don't have to be taught ONLY in an AP course and they don't have to be taught in isolation. We'll share some more examples for other units in the next few posts. Have any other ideas or resources to share that promote AP-theme thinking during an Art/Music unit? Leave a comment below... I'm sure others would love a few new ideas!

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AP Themes Aren't Just for AP Classes... Introduce Them Early

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Posted by Megan Smith on November 6, 2017 in 2 Authentic Resources, AP Themes, Culture The AP themes for teaching World Languages are BIG. If you're not familiar with them, here they are: Even in one individual theme, there are a million different ideas, resources, and paths to take when planning.

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Authentic Resource Activities for World Language Teachers - Google Sheets

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Authentic Resource Activities for World Language Teachers - Google Sheets

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 Authentic Resource Activities for World Language Teachers

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Spanish

 Level/ Topic, Resource, Activity sheet or link, Teacher name, Contact info, Level, RATING: Add a star if you& your students loved it. More stars= best activities!, comments
 Novice
 Introductions
 YouTube La Voz Kids Brian, Edpuzzle quiz, S. Cottrell, musicuentos. com,✰✰
 YouTube La Voz...

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Glossary | American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

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Glossary | American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

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A verbal category that refers to some characteristic of the activity or state of a verb. It indicates if an action or state is viewed as completed or in progress (I went/I was going), instantaneous or enduring (The sun came out/The sun was shining), momentary or habitual (They vacationed at the shore/They used to vacation at the shore).

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Core Practices: A Free Overview - YouTube

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Core Practices: A Free Overview - YouTube

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Core Practices are highly-effective and research-based teaching methods designed specifically for your world language classroom. This Virtual Learning Module (VLM) created by ACTFL offers practical solutions to increase your students' performance and proficiency by comprehensively addressing best teacher practices.

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Guiding Principles for Language Learning | American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

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Guiding Principles for Language Learning | American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

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These Guiding Principles for Language Learning identify what is effective in language learning and provide guidance to educators and learners alike. These statements are not a finite or fixed list, but are intended to evolve and continue to grow as new topics emerge and to reflect new realities in the diversity of learners and learning situations. These Guiding Principles are presented to lead and shape the discussion on effective instructional practices, useful to:

Learners

Educators

Parents

Administrators

Governing Bodies and Boards

Legislators

Community at large

ACTFL welcomes ongoing discussion to update and refine these statements, informed by new research and experiences. Join the discussion.

Each Guiding Principle follows the format of answering four questions:

What? Identifies the guiding principle and briefly describes it.

Why? Explains a rationale behind the statement, a brief overview to frame the guiding principle.

How? Describes strategies for acting on this guiding principle, implementing the practice in instructional settings, and using this guiding principle in supporting learners.

How to Find Out More? Provides specific references for underlying research, additional resources, and applications.

Core Practices Overview

Free overview video of Eileen Glisan's Virtual Learning Module: Core Practices
Hear an Overview

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Guiding Principles for Language Learning

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These Guiding Principles for Language Learning identify what is effective in language learning and provide guidance to educators and learners alike. These statements are not a finite or fixed list, but are intended to evolve and continue to grow as new topics emerge and to reflect new realities in the diversity of learners and learning situations.

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Building Your Core - Effective Practices.pdf

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Building Your Core - Effective Practices.pdf

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The teacher engages learners in cognitively challenging real-world tasks. Instructional Resource(s): Student Proficiency Level(s): Novice Intermediate Advanced Grade Level(s): K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12 Undergraduate Material Type(s): Video Instruction STARTALK ...

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Target Language From Day 1: How to Keep High Levels of TL in Your Classroom | Calico Spanish

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Target Language From Day 1: How to Keep High Levels of TL in Your Classroom | Calico Spanish

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How can you start with a lot of target language in the classroom from the very beginning?

We sure missed our #langchat tweeps over the summer and it showed on Thursday night! As language professionals gathered from around the world to chime in, it almost made us glad that summer is drawing to a close.

As the school year begins, the #langchat forum brainstormed ways to keep the target language in the classroom from the very first day. The result was a list of great ideas that most of us are just itching to try out on our new students.

- Follow us on Bloglovin ' -

Language From Day 1

@jas347 said, "A colleague asked me when I start content. DAY 1! I speak French from the beginning and students leave able to say something in TL from Day 1!" Many other teachers supported the idea of creating an immersion environment from the very first day. @garnet_hillmansaid, "We start the first day as well, kids work with names and getting to know each other!"

Most teachers loved the idea of getting right into the nitty-gritty of language acquisition, but the discussion emphasized the importance of ensuring students understand rather than being immersed in confusion. @placido said, "I wonder if teachers sometimes are a little uncertain of how to make the class comprehensible for their students?" This brought up the idea of why some teachers choose to stray from the 90% target language immersion level as suggested by the ACTFL benchmarks. The reason for this broke down into 5 perceived challenges:

Challenges

Fear of Isolation - Some teachers speculated that teachers might not want to stay in the target language because it makes them less accessible to students. @jas347 said,

I've heard that teachers can't form relationships with students if they only use the target language. It's just not true.

Fear of Discomfort - Others said that student comfort levels kept them from staying in the target language 100% of the time. @CatherineKU72 said, "They are overwhelmed and they don't hear [TL] every day." @garnet_hillman agreed, saying, "High level of TL can overwhelm students. We must make sure to keep it manageable for them." Some #langchat participants stated that discomfort was actually an important part of the learning process and it needs to be embraced. @cyberfrida summed the thought up perfectly:

I frequently tell students to be comfortable with the uncomfortable.

Fear of Resistance - @trescolumnae said, "Some [students] just don't want to [stay in the target language] - they still see language as something you learn ABOUT." A few teachers mentioned the fear of teachers to have to deal with discipline issues from a class that revolts against immersion. @meglet22 said, "I feel like it's harder if you don't start from the beginning. Students are resistant if they are used to the native language."

Fear of Rejection - @DiegoOjeda66 said, "Some teachers think that by using native language, they are being nice to their students." Participants agreed that this does nothing but undermine the idea of immersion learning, and can even undermine other teachers. @mweelin said,

That's the other problem. When other teachers don't use as much TL, kids think you are too mean or strict. We need help from our colleagues!

Fear of Mistakes - Many students are afraid they might make a mistake and be embarrassed, and teachers need to address this issue from the start of the year. @mweelin said, "Challenges are getting kids to believe they will understand, that it's ok to make mistakes." @esantacruz13 said,

I do believe they have to lose the fear of making mistakes. Let them know it is ok to make mistakes, and it is ok to correct them.

Solutions

Realistic Expectations - One of the best ways to help students avoid feelings of isolation and failure is by having appropriate expectations. Not everyone can handle 100% target language speaking from the get-go. @KrisClimer suggested that teachers do "...lots of listening and understanding" and have minimum language production goals at first.

Low-Stress Forms of Communication - By giving students choices in their form of communication, a lot of the intimidation factor is relieved. @CatherineKU72 said,

We give students other opportunities to shine: Writing, texting, drawing, demonstrating comprehension. It's their choice.

She also went on to mention that corrections also induce stress in learners:

Correcting while students talk discourages them from their efforts. Let them babble and offer a few rephrased thoughts after.

Focus on Comprehension - Some teachers really felt that the focus should be taken off staying in the target language and should be more centered on language comprehension. @trescolumnae said, "COMPREHENSIBLE input is key. Better to diverge from 90% target than to have a lost or confused student." He continued "[Teachers] need to check for understanding constantly especially with novices; adapt if they're lost."

- One of the best ways to help teachers stay in the target language more is by helping them feel more confident in their own language skills and teaching abilities. @CatherineKU72 explained,

Teachers need to feel and BE competent in their content area. A hesitant teacher can give the impression that it's ok to slip.

Create a Safe Environment - Having a safe place to make mistakes is possibly the most valuable skill in helping students stay in the target language. @KrisClimer said, "Once they trust the teacher and trust each other, open correction is possible." @mweelin said,

My take away is that trust and a safe environment are key to staying in the target language.

How Comfortable Should They Be?

Although the #langchat participants agreed that they wanted students to feel safe in making mistakes, they didn't agree on whether students should feel comfortable in the learning process. @esantacruz13 said,

Make students feel comfortable in the Language Classroom, that's the key for a great year. How comfortable though?

Some teachers mentioned that mistakes and confusion make students feel uncomfortable, and that is a natural motivation to get better at the language. @RobuPrice said,

I think that students need to know that it's normal to NOT understand; that a part of language learning is being confused.

Other teachers took another perspective. @placido said,

I think it is MY job to make sure they are not confused. That needn't be a part of a class. If they are not understanding, they are not acquiring.

@KrisClimer responded, "But confusion is OK if it is met with love."

@msfrenchteach said, "My take-away would be that students AND educators have to be uncomfortable in the classroom at times. I know this feeling! Ha!"

Other Great Ideas for Increasing Target Language In Class

Add Some Cultural Music - @garnet_hillman said, "I love to use music to encourage TL usage, already had some kids singing in level 1 on the 2nd day of class."

Get Them to Compete - @CatherineKU72 said, "Engage from Day 1 in TL, offer challenges and competitions, but also time for any student to shine. Use every idea possible."

Have Them Record It - @KreinerNation said, "When I have the kids record themselves, they tend to stay in TL more than when I don't have them record."

Phrase of the Week - @meglet22 said, "Useful 'phrase of the week' competitions increased TL use last year. Every time they used one correctly they got a ticket. Then we drew for prize on Fridays."

Dancing and Movement - @CatherineKU72 said, "...music, nursery rhymes, movement, etc. They are up and on their feet."

Provide "Down Time" from the Target Language - @jas347 said, "While I'm setting up new activities, I turn on Francophone music. They get to dance for 90 seconds, then reset."

Modeling Behavior - @trescolumnae said, "Important to teach and model the procedures they'll be using; don't assume they know!"

Mystery Puzzles - @CatherineKU72 said, [email protected] #langchat Mystery puzzles w/chunks of information that they have to put together to discover answer. Mystery zoo & family = Fun."

Cheater Phrases - @SraHertel, @garnet_hillman and @placido suggested the use of phrases that students could read when they got lost for words. Whether on the backs of chairs or on the walls, this is a great tool to keep them in the target language.

TPRS Activities - @edwardstanko and @meglet22 both talked about using TPRS stories this year to help them stay in the target language with their students.

Greetings and Names on Day 1 - @RhulsHuls said, "We did inside-outside circle in TL with greetings and names on Day 1." @esantacruz13 said, "I did a Human Bingo activity where they had to talk to their classmates. They first have to get comfortable speaking the language."

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Thank You!

We'd like to give a big thanks to our moderators, @msfrenchteach, @secottrell, and @diegoojeda66 for co-moderating this joyous post-summer reunion! If you'd like to see all the great ideas that didn't make it into the summary, check out the complete transcript in our online archive.

Thank you so much for joining us in the #langchat community. If you have a great idea for a future topic for our discussion, share your ideas with us! We are excited to hear what is working for you and your world language classroom!

Additional Resources

Circling With Balls
Fresh Prince: Google Translated
The Slanted Apostrophe
Langchat
LANGUAGE TEACHERS COLLABORATE
ACTFL
LinguaFolio® Checklists
ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines
Technology resources for the World Language Classroom

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Target Language From Day 1: How to Keep High Levels of TL in Your Classroom | Calico Spanish

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How can you start with a lot of target language in the classroom from the very beginning? We sure missed our #langchat tweeps over the summer and it showed on Thursday night! As language professionals gathered from around the world to chime in, it almost made us glad that summer is drawing to a close.

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Teacher Effectiveness for Language Learning

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The mission of the Teacher Effectiveness for Language Learning (TELL) Project is to define what effective language teachers do and facilitate their growth to prepare for, advance and support language learning.

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The mission of the Teacher Effectiveness for Language Learning (TELL) Project is to define what effective language teachers do and facilitate their growth to prepare for, advance and support language learning.

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ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2012 | American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

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ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2012 | American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

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Welcome to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2012 online. Here you will find the most current version of the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines for Speaking, Writing, Listening, and Reading made interactive through the inclusion of glossed terms and multimedia exemplars. You can explore the Guidelines by skill or by level, listen to and read samples in English that represent abilities at each of the major proficiency levels.

Download the complete text of the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2012 document in a PDF format.

Download the Guidelines Pyramid suitable for printing: (PDF) or (PDF).

Purchase the Oral Proficiency Levels in the Workplace 24 x 36 poster or it for printing (PDF).

The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2012 may be used for non-profit, educational purposes only, provided that they are reproduced in their entirety, with no alterations, and with credit to ACTFL. Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the examples in any form is prohibited other than for non-profit, educational purposes. You may not, except with ACTFL's express written permission, distribute or commercially exploit any media content.

General Preface to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2012

The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines are a description of what individuals can do with language in terms of speaking, writing, listening, and reading in real-world situations in a spontaneous and non-rehearsed context. For each skill, these guidelines identify five major levels of proficiency: Distinguished, Superior, Advanced, Intermediate, and Novice. The major levels Advanced, Intermediate, and Novice are subdivided into High, Mid, and Low sublevels. The levels of the ACTFL Guidelines describe the continuum of proficiency from that of the highly articulate, well-educated language user to a level of little or no functional ability.

These Guidelines present the levels of proficiency as ranges, and describe what an individual can and cannot do with language at each level, regardless of where, when, or how the language was acquired. Together these levels form a hierarchy in which each level subsumes all lower levels. The Guidelines are not based on any particular theory, pedagogical method, or educational curriculum. They neither describe how an individual learns a language nor prescribe how an individual should learn a language, and they should not be used for such purposes. They are an instrument for the evaluation of functional language ability.

The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines were first published in 1986 as an adaptation for the academic community of the U.S. Government's Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) Skill Level Descriptions. This third edition marks the third edition of the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines includes the first revisions of Listening and Reading since their original publication in 1986, and a second revision of the ACTFL Speaking and Writing Guidelines, which were revised to reflect real-world assessment needs in 1999 and 2001 respectively. New for the 2012 edition are the addition of the major level of Distinguished to the Speaking and Writing Guidelines, the division of the Advanced level into the three sublevels of High, Mid, and Low for the Listening and Reading Guidelines and the addition of general level description at the Advanced, Intermediate, and Novice levels for all skills.

Another new feature of the 2012 Guidelines is their publication online, supported with glossed terminology and annotated, multimedia samples of performance at each level for Speaking and Writing, and examples of oral and written texts and tasks associated with each level for Reading and Listening.

The direct application of the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines is for the evaluation of functional language ability. The Guidelines are intended to be used for global assessment in academic and workplace settings. However, the Guidelines do have instructional implications. The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines underlie the development of the ACTFL Performance Guidelines for K-12 Learners (1998) and are used in conjunction with the National Standards for Foreign Language Learning (1996, 1998, 2006) to describe how well students meet content standards. For the past 25 years, the ACTFL Guidelines have had an increasingly profound impact on foreign language teaching and learning in the United States.

Acknowledgements

ACTFL is deeply indebted to the many individuals who contributed to the previous editions of the Proficiency Guidelines.
In addition, ACTFL wishes to acknowledge the principal authors and editors of this 3rd Edition of the Proficiency Guidelines: Elvira Swender, Daniel J. Conrad, and Robert Vicars; and the invaluable contributions of the project consultants: Mahdi Alosh, Karen Breiner-Sanders, Ray T. Clifford, Helen Hamlyn, David Hiple, Judith Liskin-Gasparro, Pardee Lowe, Jr., Cynthia Martin, Karl F. Otto, Jr., Benjamin Rifkin, Mildred Rivera-Martinez, and Erwin Tschirner.

Finally, ACTFL is most appreciative of the comments and feedback from the many members of the profession who contributed generously of their time and expertise in reviewing earlier drafts of this document.

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Welcome to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2012 online. Here you will find the most current version of the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines for Speaking, Writing, Listening, and Reading made interactive through the inclusion of glossed terms and multimedia exemplars.

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we teach langauges – a podcast about language teaching from the diverse perspectives of real teachers

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we teach langauges – a podcast about language teaching from the diverse perspectives of real teachers

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a podcast about language teaching from diverse perspectives

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Center for Applied Second Language Studies (CASLS) - Center for Applied Second Language Studies

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Center for Applied Second Language Studies (CASLS) - Center for Applied Second Language Studies

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Welcome to CASLS

Innovation in the Teaching and Learning of World Languages

The Center for Applied Second Language Studies (CASLS) at the University of Oregon fosters innovation in world language teaching and learning by providing research-based solutions to materials creation, program implementation, and evaluation and assessment. CASLS is one of sixteen National Foreign Language Resource Centers that work to increase the nation's capacity for language teaching and learning.

Our staff represents a diverse group of multilingual people working together toward the mission of improving the teaching and learning of world languages. Our staff's expertise has helped the center become nationally recognized in the intersection of technology and language learning, program development, professional development, and assessment.

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The Center for Applied Second Language Studies (CASLS) at the University of Oregon fosters innovation in world language teaching and learning by providing research-based solutions to materials creation, program implementation, and evaluation and assessment. CASLS is one of sixteen National Foreign Language Resource Centers that work to increase the nation's capacity for language teaching and learning.

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Teach Grammar as Concepts in Meaningful Contexts in Language Learning | American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

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Teach Grammar as Concepts in Meaningful Contexts in Language Learning | American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

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What?

Grammar should be addressed within meaningful communicative contexts as one element of language proficiency. Instead of focusing on grammar rules and diagramming sentences, teachers should guide students towards an understanding of how grammar functions. Students learn how to use the form rather than memorized conjugations that may not be applicable across contexts.

Why?

Grammar is an important element of communication, but research shows that explicit teaching of grammar has little effect on people's language acquisition, comprehension, or writing abilities. Traditional approaches to grammar instruction that emphasize direct grammar instruction often encourage memorized, rehearsed use of language. Additionally, many methods do not require students to understand meaning in an authentic context, i.e., how grammar is actually used in communication. Thinking of grammar in terms of concepts, that is, what is the purpose of using a specific form, what is the meaning expressed through that form, will broaden learners' understanding and use of the target language.

Research on human memory tells us that language acquisition is dependent upon two kinds of long-term memory: procedural and declarative. Procedural memory shows what a learner acquires naturally with automatic processing, through repetition and practice, as evidenced by the learning of one's native language. Declarative memory is recollection of facts and information that a learner has acquired and stored explicitly. In order to be most effective, it is important that language development is stored in both memory systems; learners should be expected to learn grammar implicitly through target language use and explicitly through the discovery of grammatical rules through use in meaningful examples.

How?

Instruction should be in the target language using lessons that have functional goals and objectives.

During these task-based lessons, when there is a need to address a gap in knowledge in order for communication to occur, learners should explicitly explore grammatical forms guided by their teacher.

By searching for the correct form in an effort to speak, listen, read, or write effectively, a learner has a spontaneous need for a grammatical structure and is highly motivated to use the grammar in context immediately.

This exploration, discovery, and use of grammatical concepts leads to greater understanding of the function of language and therefore leads to increased communication.

Find Out More:

Adair-Hauck, B. (1993). A descriptive analysis of a whole language/guided participatory versus explicit teaching strategies in foreign language instruction. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Pittsburgh, PA.

Adair-Hauck, B., & Donato, R. (2002). The PACE model: A story-based approach to meaning and form for standards-based language learning. The French Review. 76, 265-296.

Davin, K., & Donato, R. (2013) Student collaboration and teacher‐directed classroom dynamic assessment: A complementary pairing. Foreign Language Annals, 46(1), 5-22.

Ellis, R. (2002). The place of grammar instruction in the second/foreign language curriculum. New perspectives on grammar teaching in second language classrooms, 17-34.

Glisan, E. (2015). Core Practices Webinars. Alexandria, VA: ACTFL. Access at: https://www.pathlms.com/actfl/courses/2074/video_presentations/23833

Krashen, S. (1981). Second language acquisition and second language learning. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Leow, R. P. (2009). Input enhancement and L2 grammatical development: What the research reveals. Conceptions of L2 grammar: Theoretical approaches and their application in the L2 classroom, 16-34.

Paradis, M. (2009) Declarative and procedural determinants of second languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Co.

VanPatten, B. (1996). Input processing and grammar instruction in second language acquisition. Greenwood Publishing Group.

VanPatten, B., & Cadierno, T. (1993). Input processing and second language acquisition: A role for instruction. The Modern Language Journal, 77(1), 45-57.

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Teach Grammar as Concepts in Meaningful Contexts in Language Learning

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What? Grammar should be addressed within meaningful communicative contexts as one element of language proficiency. Instead of focusing on grammar rules and diagramming sentences, teachers should guide students towards an understanding of how grammar functions. Students learn how to use the form rather than memorized conjugations that may not be applicable across contexts.

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Lead With Spanish

Why Learn Spanish

Spanish Is Now Part of Our Tapestry

In the United States, Spanish is rising ahead of any other non-English language at a rapid pace, with a steady flow of new immigrants from Latin America and growth in the already large Hispanic population. According to a Pew Research Center report, an estimated 38 million people in the United States speak Spanish as their first language, and analysts predict the Latino population will reach approximately 130 million in 2060-likely making it the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world. Proportionally, Hispanics are expected to rise from around 16 percent of the U.S. population in 2010 to 30 percent by 2050.

Spanish Is Everywhere

It's not only in the United States where Spanish is popular. There are some 400 million Spanish speakers worldwide, placing it second only to Chinese for total number of native speakers and the fourth-most commonly spoken language in the world. In Europe, Spanish is the second most popular second language, after English. Only Mandarin, English, and Hindi have more speakers. It is the third most commonly used language on the Internet, following English and Chinese. The sheer number of Spanish speakers and their rate of growth makes learning Spanish a smart choice.

Learning Spanish Will Help Your Career

With such a large Latino population in the United States and booming Latin economies around the world, employers are desperate for people who speak Spanish. There is a huge demand in the United States Spanish-speakers in nursing, construction management, and media, among many other sectors.

Between 2010 and 2015, the share of jobs seeking Spanish speakers increased by 13 percent. Big corporations are realizing the importance of reaching a market that represents approximately 1.5 trillion annually. Meanwhile, Latin America saw a record $179 billion of foreign direct investment in 2015 and companies everywhere are expanding.

It Will Unlock a World of Travel Destinations

There are approximately 329 million native Spanish speakers in the world, and they populate some of the coolest global destinations. You can leave behind the touristy resorts in Cancun and explore thousands of miles of more affordable and beautiful Latin American cities, beaches, and trails. Even if you do go to popular destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean, speaking the local language will help you get off the beaten path and have a more authentic experience. And then, of course, you can book a trip to Spain and see the wonders of Barcelona, Madrid, Andalucía, and other cities!

You Can Enjoy Amazing Books and Movies

Around 100 successful authors from 54 countries voted El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha by novelist Miguel de Cervantes as the best book of all time, and while the 17th-century book is widely available in other languages, like any book, it is best in its original language. Other Spanish-language authors you'll want to read include Chilean poet Pablo Neruda-many of whose works have not been translated-Gabriel García Márquez, Roberto Bolaño, and Mario Vargas Llosa, just to name a few.

And then there are the movies: star directors Pedro Almodóvar, Alfonso Cuarón, and Guillermo Del Toro-who all have movies in their native language-should be enough to convince you of the richness of Spanish-language cinema.

Spanish Is Relatively Easy to Learn

Written Spanish is almost completely phonetic: by looking at a Spanish word, you can usually tell how it is pronounced. While mastering the grammar of Spanish can be a challenge, basic grammar is straightforward enough, and many vocabulary words are similar to English. Because the number of Spanish speakers in the United States continues to rise, chances are it will become even easier to learn and practice this language.

Spanish Language Instruction Is Widespread and Accessible in Today's Schools and Universities

70 percent of high-school students and 52 percent of post-secondary students in language programs choose Spanish.

Even the British Are Swapping French for Spanish

The British Council's "Languages of the Future" report ranks non-English languages in order of importance for British citizens to learn, based on a thorough analysis of cultural, economic, and diplomatic factors. Spanish topped the list, followed by Arabic, French, and Mandarin. If the home territory of the English language-which is located just miles from France and which doesn't even have that many Spanish-speaking immigrants-has decided that Spanish is the best second language to acquire, then who are we to argue?

How Will You Lead with Spanish?

Scholarships and Grants

Fontana Transport Inc. offers scholarships to underrepresented students pursuing a four-year degree in several concentrations, including Spanish Language/Literature.

HSF scholarships help high-school and college students of Hispanic heritage fund academic experiences.

The Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization allows U.S. students to earn a complete medical degree abroad in Spanish, including pre-program intensive language training for those in need.

LIVFund accepts applications throughout the year from students seeking financial aid for abroad experiences in Latin America.

The NACC annually selects an undergraduate or graduate paper contributing to Chicana and Chicano Studies for a monetary award and consideration for review and publication.

Each year the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society awards multiple scholarships to fund study abroad and Spanish language study.

Sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, the Honor Society offers scholarships to high-school members for university studies and travel Spanish-speaking countries, as well as honoraria and possible publication in Albricias.

Student Blogs
Check out how these study abroad bloggers used Spanish skills on both sides of the Atlantic!
Courtney traveled to Honduras, Greece, and Ecuador before moving to La Rioja, Spain, to teach after college.

Cornell student, Sara, explored Costa Rica while studying abroad with the Organization for Tropical Studies.

Having already traveled to Belgium and Nicaragua, Spanish and economics double major Cami studied abroad for a full year in Alicante, Spain.

Michigan native and Spanish language enthusiast Zach blogged his semester abroad in Alicante.

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Spanish Is Now Part of Our Tapestry In the United States, Spanish is rising ahead of any other non-English language at a rapid pace, with a steady flow of new immigrants from Latin America and growth in the already large Hispanic population.